Award-winning Gyrobotic Survey System Takes Underground Mapping to a New Level
June 12, 2014
Over the last decade, the company has developed this solution into the United Kingdom’s only commercial gyroscopic surveying system, known as ‘PipeTrack 3D.’ In the process, Infotec has also built a reputation for delivering results in problematic situations where man-entry options are unavailable or where the risks are too great to consider any alternative methods. Surveys can be undertaken at any depth and inside any pipe material with the survey capability being unaffected by external factors such as temperature variations, the earth’s magnetic field or electromagnetic interference generated by adjacent utility services.
Survey capabilities have advanced considerably over the past 18 months, particularly with the addition of autonomous robotic (ROV) and submersible (SUV) mobilization capabilities that have greatly extended the types of infrastructure and the range of survey that can now be completed. In addition, Infotec’s mobilization platforms allow the simultaneous deployment of a wide range of additional surveying technologies such as LiDAR internal laser scanning to build a Cloud-based data model or digital replica, which provides a definitive replica of the surveyed structure. The gyroscopic capabilities of the system uniquely position each and every point of the survey, with point clouds typically recording up to a million individual points of data every second.
Furthermore, additional sensors may be added to the system to provide enhanced survey capabilities. For example, filtered acoustic sensors may be used to detect leak noise. Water entering or leaving a pipe under pressure via a defective joint, crack or fracture, emits a recordable noise. By combing these recordings with the image data and the advanced positional information, these new techniques provide the most advanced leak detection capabilities. Leak noise may also be detected on adjacent pipework, with the noise of an adjacent leaking water main identified whilst surveying a sewer or gas main laying in close proximity to the surveyed structure. Temperature and pressure sensors can be used to monitor minute changes with the precise XYZ coordinates associated to each and every recordable feature or defect.
The benefits also facilitate more effective use of Trenchless (No-Dig) Technology. The chance to use techniques such as Horizontal Directional Drilling or similar moling or tunneling systems, allows remote works to pass under, over or even to connect new lateral branches to existing infrastructure, avoiding unnecessary excavation, minimizing surface level disruption.
Opportunities for the use of the data also extend to enhanced design capabilities. For the first time, the data will provide accurate ‘as-built’ information such as localized changes in gradient and unrecorded changes in shape or size as a result of repair or modification. This facilitates improvements in tasks such as hydraulic modelling and enables more effective improvements for projects such as flood prevention or flood alleviation studies.
On a larger scale, the survey capabilities extend to the transportation infrastructure such as road or rail tunnels. Gyrobotic Surveys are already being considered as a fast and effective means of recording change in situations where limited access opportunity is afforded for inspection and assessment. Where failure could result in a risk to life as a result of the derailment of a fast moving train or vehicle, the need to identify change which can be assessed to predict the potential risk of failure is even greater. However, the capabilities devised for one sector ultimately benefits others, to a greater or lesser extent. Gyrobotic Surveying although in its infancy is in fact an amalgamation of several mature technologies. The opportunities are therefore, according to Infotec, unlimited, with new challenges to be met with further developments that will undoubtedly follow.
David Pitt, managing director of Infotec also commented: “The idea of the Gyrobotic Survey is something we have been developing for some time now. It now has the capacity to meet survey demands that previously could not be met whilst potentially providing such a vast array of data that we may yet find that we still have not completely understood just how effective this may be for the future, even given the expanded usage of the data we already see in the surveys completed to date. What has also been most pleasing is that the new technique developed by Infotec was recently awarded the ‘UKSTT Product Innovation Award for 2013.’ This is a major recognition of our company’s efforts in expanding survey capabilities.”