Method and apparatus for pipe imaging with chemical analysis
AssigneeRedZone Robotics, Inc.
InventorsJustin Starr, John Lettman, Todd Kueny, Foster J. Salotti, Galin Konakchiev
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Abstract
One embodiment provides a method for identifying a target object of a pipe wall, including: positioning a pipe inspection robot within a pipe; emitting, using a terahertz (THz) beam source of the pipe inspection robot, a laser beam towards a target object; receiving, using a THz receiver of the pipe inspection robot, THz data related to the target object; analyzing, using a processor, the THz data; and determining, based on the analyzing, an identity of the object. Other aspects are described and claimed.
Claims20
A pipe inspection robot, comprising:
- a powered track system providing movement to the pipe inspection robot to traverse through the interior of a water or sewer pipe;
- a sensor component attached to the powered track system;
- and
- a processor;
- said sensor component comprising:
- a terahertz (THz) beam source, a receiver;
- and a visual camera;
- said processor configured to:
- operate the sensor component to collect THz data and visual image data related to an interior surface of the water or sewer pipe as the pipe inspection robot traverses through the water or sewer pipe;
- associate the THz data with visual image data;
- and
- communicate the THz data and the visual image data collected over a network connection.
A method for identifying a target object of a pipe wall, comprising:
- positioning a pipe inspection robot within a water or sewer pipe to traverse through the interior of the water or sewer pipe;
- receiving, using a visual camera of the pipe inspection robot, visual image data related to an interior surface of the water or sewer pipe as the pipe inspection robot traverses through the water or sewer pipe;
- emitting, using a terahertz (THz) beam source of the pipe inspection robot, a laser beam towards a target object of the interior surface of the water or sewer pipe;
- receiving, using a THz receiver of the pipe inspection robot, THz data related to the target object as the pipe inspection robot traverses through the water or sewer pipe;
- associating, using a processor, the THz data with the visual image data and pipe network mapping data;
- analyzing, using a processor, the THz data;
- determining, based on the analyzing, an identity of the target object;
- and
- providing the identity of the target object in a visual display comprising one or more of the pipe network data, a visual image, and a THz image.
A method, comprising:
- traversing, with a pipe inspection robot, through an interior of a water or sewer pipe;
- receiving, using a visual camera of the pipe inspection robot, visual image data related to a target object of an interior surface of the water or sewer pipe;
- receiving, using a THz receiver of the pipe inspection robot, THz data related to the target object;
- associating, using a processor, the THz data with the visual image data;
- analyzing, using a processor, the THz data;
- determining, based on the analyzing, an identity of the target object;
- and
- providing the identity of the target object in a visual display comprising the visual image data and the THz data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.