Artificial intelligence-assisted smart robotic pipeline health monitoring system

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Transportation of natural gas by pipelines has been rapidly increasing both in Canada and India in recent years. In India only, at the end of 2021, over 13,840 km of natural gas pipelines have been installed, and this number will be 28,000 km by the end of 2030. Being the sixth largest producer of natural gas in the world, pipelines in Canada have been the main driver of natural gas over long distances. However, these pipelines have limited life due to natural processes of degradation of the pipe surface and joint failures. Sensing-based structural health monitoring (SHM) has a significant potential to improve the life span of pipelines and prevent catastrophic failures. However, currently available in-line scanning robots use a single sensing approach and are not suitable for a wide range of real-time leak detection in pipelines. Creating a combination of magnetic, haptic, and infra-red scanning systems on a single robot enhances deeper learning by validating and fusing data from all sensors for damage prognosis. The scanning data from these unique sensors developed by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) India provides valuable insight into the pipeline's health compared to the conventional inspection tool. However, in the absence of any automation capability, this system is inadequate to fully utilize the data fusion and undertake real-time leak detection in pipelines. This proposal aims to integrate the strength of robotic sensing devices with artificial intelligence and develop a real-time multiclass pipeline health monitoring (PHM) system, which can be scalable to any pipeline network. In this proposal, Dr. Ayan Sadhu at Western University, with his expertise in AI and SHM, will collaborate with Dr. Bishakh Bhattacharya at IIT Kanpur, who has developed a unique robotic system and testbed to conduct this research. Major Canadian pipeline agencies (e.g., Exxon, Enbridge, TransCanada etc.) will use the proposed PHM system to enhance the lifespan of the pipeline network and thus mitigate the economic and environmental loss in Canada. The proposed system will help reduce the possibility of worldwide catastrophe due to pipeline failure.