Using UHF-RFID Signals for Robot Localization Inside Pipelines
- Amal Gunatilake ,
- Karthick Thiyagarajan ,
- sarath kodagoda ,
- Lasitha Piyathilaka ,
- Poojaben Darji
Abstract
Underground water pipes are important to any country's infrastructure.
Overtime, the metallic pipes are prone to corrosion, which can lead to
water leakage and pipe bursts. In order to prolong the service life of
those assets, water utilities in Australia apply protective pipe
linings. Long-term monitoring and timely intervention are crucial for
maintaining those lining assets. However, the water utilities do not
possess the comprehensive technology to achieve it. The main reasons for
lacking such technology are the unavailability of sensors and accurate
robot localization technologies. Feature based localization methods such
as SLAM has limited use as the application of liners alters the features
and the environment. Encoder based localization is not accurate enough
to observe the evolution of defects over a long period of time requiring
unique defect correspondence. This motivates us to explore accurate
contact-less and wireless based localization methods. We propose a
cost-effective localization method using UHFRFID signals for robot
localization inside pipelines based on Gaussian process combined
particle filter. Experiments carried out in field extracted pipe samples
from the Sydney water pipe network show that using the RSSI and Phase
data together in the measurement model with particle filter algorithm
improves the localization accuracy up to 15 centimeters precision.