Characterization of refractory lining of metallurgical vessels using autonomous scanners

A scanner for characterizing a refractory lining in a container, the scanner comprising:

• a frame;
• a laser scanning system mounted on the frame, said laser scanning system having a laser, a scanner, optics, a photodetector, and receiver electronics, said laser scanning system being configured to measure, in measurement position, distances from the laser scanning system to a plurality of points on a surface of the refractory lining;
• a robotic vehicle attached to the frame, said robotic vehicle having drive system comprising wheels or tracks and a controller configured to operate the drive system and control motion of said robotic vehicle, said robotic vehicle being configured for motion on a floor to propel the scanner autonomously in an area adjacent to the container from a first position to a second position along the floor, and said robotic vehicle not comprising gunning equipment;
• a tracking system, in communicative connection with the controller, configured to determine the position and orientation of the scanning system relative to the alignment of the container, to provide range data measured in the frame of reference of the tracking system and converted to a frame of reference relative to the container, and to provide position feedback to the drive system of the robotic vehicle;
• and
• a control system comprising hardware and software to control the scanner, said control system being communicatively connected to said laser scanning system, said controller, and said drive system, wherein the refractory lining is characterized by comparing the plurality of distances measured by the laser scanning system to a reference surface of the refractory lining.