Pervasive Sensing for Buried Pipes

在欧洲，下水道资产总值达2万亿欧元。美国环境保护署估计，美国的水收集系统的总重置价值在1到2万亿美元之间。类似的数字可以分配给其他类型的提供清洁水和天然气的埋管资产。仅在中国，每年就铺设4万公里的新下水管道。然而，人们对这些管道的状况知之甚少，尽管水和天然气供应公司面临着确保它们持续、安全和高效运行的压力。为了正确地做到这一点，公用事业运营商必须识别故障的初始迹象，然后对故障的发生做出足够迅速的反应，以避免饮用水供应损失、废水泛滥或气体泄漏。这是通过有针对性的检查进行的，这种检查通常通过人工进入或闭路电视方法进行，尽管已经开发出更复杂的设备（例如系绳）并有选择地使用。然而，尽管英国在这一研究领域处于世界领先地位，但这些方法速度缓慢，劳动密集型，分析是主观的，而且它们的部署扰乱了交通。此外，由于这些检查必然是不频繁的，并且只覆盖管网的一小部分，因此经常会遗漏严重的退化，并且意外发生管道故障，需要紧急维修，这大大破坏了道路和邻近埋地公用设施的使用寿命。该方案赠款建议在地埋管道传感方面进行彻底改革，以解决管道检查和修复问题。它建立在传感器、纳米和微电子研究、通信和机器人自主系统的最新进展基础上，旨在开发一种全新的无处不在的机器人传感技术平台，该平台是自主的，覆盖整个管网。这些机器人将能够从内部移动、合作和检查管道，持续检测任何缺陷的开始，导航并放大亚毫米级缺陷以详细检查它们，沟通并指导任何维护设备在基础设施出现恶化的早期迹象时进行修复。由于它们很小，因此在管道损坏或断电时不会出现被卡住、堵塞管道的危险。由于数量庞大，它们在检测系统中引入了高水平的冗余，因此在丢失一部分传感器后，常规检测仍能继续进行。通过利用声波的传播和其他类型的传感，这些机器人可以监测管壁、接头、阀门和横向连接状况的任何变化；它们可以检测亚毫米级操作或结构故障和管道腐蚀的早期发展和增长。这种传感理念的一个重要好处是它模仿自然，即单个传感器小，便宜，不复杂，但一大群传感器功能强大，精度高。这一创新将是同类技术中首次在埋地管道中部署大量微型机器人，以及其他新兴的具有长期自主性的管道内传感器、导航和通信解决方案。与先前的相关工作iBUILD （EP/K012398）、ICIF （EP/K012347）和ATU的决策支持系统（EP/K021699）相关联，该项目赠款将创建具有灵活性的技术，以适应全球不同的治理系统。这项工作将与一些行业合作伙伴合作完成，他们将帮助开发一套新的普适机器人传感平台的新要求，以在清洁水、废水和天然气管道中工作。他们将支持英国地下基础设施自主传感新研究中心的成立和运营，并确保这项研究成果具有强大的实际成果。

In Europe, the total value of sewer assets amounts to 2 trillion Euros. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that water collection systems in the USA have a total replacement value between $1 and $2 trillion. Similar figures can be assigned to other types of buried pipe assets which supply clean water and gas. In China alone 40,000 km of new sewer pipes are laid every year. However, little is known about the condition of these pipes despite the pressure on water and gas supply utility companies to ensure that they operate continuously, safely and efficiently. In order to do this properly, the utility operator must identify the initial signs of failure and then respond to the onset of failure rapidly enough to avoid loss of potable water supply, wastewater flooding or gas escape. This is attempted through targeted inspection which is typically carried out through man-entry or with CCTV approaches, although more sophisticated (e.g. tethered) devices have been developed and are used selectively. Nevertheless, and in spite of the fact that the UK is a world leader in this research area, these approaches are slow and labour intensive, analysis is subjective, and their deployment disrupts traffic. Moreover, because these inspections are necessarily infrequent and only cover a small proportion of the pipe network, serious degradation is often missed and pipe failures occur unexpectedly, requiring emergency repairs that greatly disrupt life of the road and adjacent buried utility infrastructure.This Programme Grant proposes a radical change in terms of buried pipe sensing in order to address the issues of pipe inspection and rehabilitation. It builds upon recent advances in sensors, nano- and micro-electronics research, communication and robotic autonomous systems and aims to develop a completely new pervasive robotics sensing technology platform which is autonomous and covers the entire pipe network. These robots will be able to travel, cooperate and interrogate the pipes from the inside, detect the onset of any defects continuously, navigate to and zoom on sub-millimetre scale defects to examine them in detail, communicate and guide any maintenance equipment to repair the infrastructure at an early sign of deterioration. By being tiny, they do not present a danger of being stuck, blocking the pipe if damaged or run out of power. By being abundant, they introduce a high level of redundancy in the inspection system, so that routine inspection can continue after a loss of a proportion of the sensors in the swarm. By making use of the propagation of sonic waves and other types of sensing these robots can monitor any changes in the condition of the pipe walls, joints, valves and lateral connections; they can detect the early development and growth of sub-millimetre scale operational or structural faults and pipe corrosion. An important benefit of this sensing philosophy is that it mimics nature, i.e. the individual sensors are small, cheap and unsophisticated, but a swarm of them is highly capable and precise. This innovation will be the first of its kind to deploy swarms of miniaturised robots in buried pipes together with other emerging in-pipe sensor, navigation and communication solutions with long-term autonomy. Linked to the related previous work, iBUILD (EP/K012398), ICIF (EP/K012347) and ATU's Decision Support System (EP/K021699), this Programme Grant will create the technology that has flexibility to adapt to different systems of governance globally.This work will be done in collaboration with a number of industry partners who will help to develop a new set of requirements for the new pervasive robotic sensing platform to work in clean water, wastewater and gas pipes. They will support the formation and operation of the new research Centre of Autonomous Sensing for Buried Infrastructure in the UK and ensure that the results of this research have strong practical outcomes.