ROBO-SPECT ROBO-SPECT NEWS. Editorial 1 PROJECT FACTS. In This Issue

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1 NEWS ROBOtic System with Intelligent Vision and Control for Tunnel Structural INSPECTion and Evaluation Issue 6 September 2016 Editorial Welcome to this 's sixth newsletter. is a European 7th Framework project funded under the ICT programme on Robotics Use Cases (contract No ), implemented by 10 partners from 6 European countries. The main objective of the project consortium is to provide an automated, speedy and reliable tunnel inspection and assessment solution that can combine in one pass both inspection and detailed structural assessment and that only minimally interfere with tunnel traffic. The project officially launched its activities in October During the first years of the project the partners identified an extended group of end-users, derived user requirements and specifications and based on these, designed the first prototypes of all components and the integrated robotic system and evaluated the above prototypes at the research infrastructure of VSH in Switzerland. During the last year the integrated system was refined, evaluated, demonstrated and benchmarked at two road tunnels of Egnatia Odos in Greece. Inside this issue you will find the results of the final evaluation and demonstration of the robotic system at the Metsovo Egnatia Odos tunnel, the capabilities of the integrated system and its components and information on the consortium's final conference. PROJECT FACTS Duration: 1 October September 2016 Total Cost: ,00 EU contribution: ,00 Angelos Amditis Project Coordinator In This Issue Editorial 1 Final Field Demonstration, Validation and Benchmarking Capabilities of the Integrated System...3 Capabilities and Operational Characteristics of the ROBO -SPECT Components.4 Final Conference.. 7 Consortium.. 8

automatic navigation/ movement of the robotic system, the 3D tunnel image creation (local and global), as well as the automated wall approach with the robotic arm and crane to perform ultrasonic

2 1st 6th Newsletter, May September Page 2 Final Field Demonstration On Friday 15 July 2016, the whole, integrated, robotic solution was demonstrated to the Project officer and two reviewers. The demonstration took place at the actual tunnels of Egnatia Odos in Metsovo (Greece) and successfully demonstrated the autonomous operation of the system in detecting cracks and defects, the automatic navigation/ movement of the robotic system, the 3D tunnel image creation (local and global), as well as the automated wall approach with the robotic arm and crane to perform ultrasonic measurements of cracks. The Decision Support System (DSS) and Ground Control Station (GCS) were also demonstrated, the former performing the structural assessment of the tunnel after collection of the robot measurements and the latter defining the mission, providing real-time information from the tunnel, providing capabilities for annotations on the collected images and controlling the overall mission. Figure 1. The system in the Metsovo tunnel In the morning session, some scenarios were demonstrated by defining and controlling (via the GCS) the mission remotely (from the control center of the Egnatia Odos), while the robot was autonomously executing the inspection being physically in the Metsovo tunnel. This was followed by the demonstration of the DSS that assessed the tunnel structural condition based on the collected measurements on defects and deformation. In the afternoon session, a fully automated robotic mission was executed with all people inside the tunnel, with the robot scanning for cracks, calculating their 3D positions in global space and controlling the vehicle, crane and arm to approach the tunnel wall and perform ultrasonic measurement of the cracks width and depth. Figure 2. The system entering the tunnel

3 Final Field Validation and Benchmarking The system benchmarking took place at the Metsovo motorway tunnel, a 3.5 km long twin tunnel. Construction of the north bore, whose maximum internal diameter is 9,6 meters and maximum internal height is 8.5m, was completed in The width of the pavement is 7,8 m and the width of the curbs is 0,85m. The clearance borderline has a height of 4,90 m and the maximum height measured from the pavement level up to the tunnel crown is 7,1 m. Egnatia Odos S.A. built the south bore and the cross passages and set the twin tunnel in operation in All modules of the robotic system were evaluated and benchmarked in a series of tests. In more detail, the autonomous navigation of the robotic vehicle was validated in several inspection scenarios combined with the robotic crane movement and control to direct the sensing modules at the proper tunnel positions. Following this, the computer vision hardware and software algorithms were also validated and benchmarked into detecting cracks and other defects (delamination, spalling, joints with water leakage, etc.) and identifying the exact global coordinates of the cracks detected on the tunnel surface. The high precision robotic arm movement was also tested and validated into automated calculation of approach trajectories, movement and control and safety matters to actually position the ultrasonic measurement apparatus on the crack to be measured. The ultrasonic system was tested afterwards by performing a series of measurements of crack width and depth, as well as surface velocity measurements that were combined and proved identical to the manual inspection and measurements of the same cracks by the Egnatia Odos personnel. In parallel the mission definition, control and data exploitation software (GCS) was tested in running different inspection scenarios locally and remotely to the actual tunnel under inspection. The Structural Assessment Software was also validated in consolidating all collected sensing data from the tunnel and performing the overall structural assessment of the tunnel. Capabilities of the Integrated System Figure 3. The system inspecting the tunnel Preparation of the inspection mission at the GCS level; defining the waypoints of the robot and the inspection tasks Fully autonomous mission execution Visual detection and recording of cracks and other defects Accurate assessment of tunnel deformations Automated precise measurement of the width and depth of detected cracks using ultra-sonic sensors manipulated automatically by the robot crane and robotic arm Structural assessment of the tunnel crosssections through a decision support software and updating of the tunnel model with relevant annotations

Capabilities and Operational Characteristics of the Components Robotic Vehicle and Integrated Global Controller Autonomous Navigation and Positioning (collision avoidance etc)

The integrated system Automated Controllers for Vehicle, Crane and Arm Autonomous, Definable Mission Execution and Following (Integrated Global Controller) High Precision Robotic

collision avoidance Automatic creation of trajectory to position ultrasonic sensor on the crack Fully automated positioning algorithms Figure 5.

4 Capabilities and Operational Characteristics of the Components Robotic Vehicle and Integrated Global Controller Autonomous Navigation and Positioning (collision avoidance etc) Extendable to tunnels of 4 10m diameter (crane and arm) Operational Tunnel Diameter: 4-10m Figure 4. The integrated system Automated Controllers for Vehicle, Crane and Arm Autonomous, Definable Mission Execution and Following (Integrated Global Controller) High Precision Robotic Arm Used to direct/position ultrasonic sensor on crack (feedback from computer vision stereo imaging) High precision control/movement and positioning On-board laser scanner for collision avoidance Automatic creation of trajectory to position ultrasonic sensor on the crack Fully automated positioning algorithms Figure 5. The robotic arm Computer Vision System Machine vision cameras (crack/defects detection, stereo Imaging) Fully controllable via Pan & Tilt mechanism Figure 6. Crack Detection Results Automatic detection of defective performance of lining intrados Calculation of coordinates of cracks and defects

Capabilities and Operational Characteristics of the Components High Precision Laser Scanning Fully

points of interest High accuracy (< 2mm) Figure 7. Laser Scanner installed on the crane Figure 8.

arm) Measurement of crack width and depth (0.

5 Capabilities and Operational Characteristics of the Components High Precision Laser Scanning Fully automated tunnel-slice measurement at suspicious points for deformations Measuring tunnel perimeter at points of interest High accuracy (< 2mm) Figure 7. Laser Scanner installed on the crane Figure 8. Results of scans of tunnel slices Ultra-Sonic Sensor High precision movement (controlled by the robotic arm) Measurement of crack width and depth (0.3 mm accuracy) Surface velocity measurements Automatic and manual positioning on crack Figure 9. Ultrasonic Sensor at the tip of the robotic arm measuring crack depth and width

Capabilities and Operational Characteristics of the Components Ground Control

10. The mission preparation screen Designation of inspection waypoints

control of mission Ground Control Station mission control and data

the screen and anomalies on the right part of the screen) Decision Support

6 Capabilities and Operational Characteristics of the Components Ground Control Station mission preparation Tunnel mapping using on-board laser systems Figure 10. The mission preparation screen Designation of inspection waypoints Definition of inspection actions Mission piloting (optional) Execution and control of mission Ground Control Station mission control and data exploitation Real-time exploitation of results (measurements) Data annotation by tunnel inspector Figure 11. GCS Screen for mission monitoring (location of the robot on the left part of the screen and anomalies on the right part of the screen) Decision Support System Assessment of structural condition based on laser, ultrasonic and computer vision measurements Figure 12. Assessment of the structural condition

7 1st 6th Newsletter, May September Page 7 Final Conference On September 8, 2016, the final workshop took place in Athens (Greece) co-organized by ICCS and AIRBUS Defense and Space. Participants had the chance to learn more about the project results and discover the latest innovations in the fields of computer vision, ultra-sonic sensing and applied robotics, integrated in a userfriendly system. Specifically, the Workshop was structured in four complementary sessions, during which the following topics were addressed and discussed by known experts in the area: The state of the art in the field of applied robotics ; The outcomes and trial findings; The progress being made in various other European projects towards the robotic inspection of industrial plants and critical infrastructures, based on aerial and terrestrial robots; End-user round table discussion on transportation tunnel structural inspection and assessment. The event was attended by 50 participants and was an invaluable opportunity for fruitful exchanges between research, industry, respective suppliers and solution providers, as well as end-users, in order to identify the next axes of development and the most effective solutions for industrialization. At the first session of the workshop ( Robotics and Automation in Transportation Tunnels Inspection and Assessment ), two keynote speeches were presented, focusing on the Maintenance of EU civil infrastructures: Towards fully autonomous intelligent robotic systems (Carlos Balaguer, Board of Directors, EU Robotics, Spain) and State of Art and Future Robotic Construction and Maintenance of Infrastructures (Thomas Bock, Professor, Technical University of Munich, Germany). This actually paved the way to the rest of the sessions that focused on the EC Project Activities, Research Initiatives and Relevant Projects and closed with the End Users Needs and Future Challenges towards Wide Implementation. Figure 13. The final Conference Figure 14. The audience at the final conference

De Ingeniera de Sistemas y Automatica Robotics Laboratory(UC3M) VSH Hagerbach Test Gallery Ltd.

(EOAE) Institute of Microelectronics and Microsystems, National Research Council of Italy (CNR) RISA

A - Consulting Engineers S.p.A D. Bairaktaris & Associates Structural Design Office Ltd.

participate as partners, associate partners, subcontractors or members of an extended users' group

Rail (UK), Parisian metro (France), Attico Metro (Greece), Harcrow Group Ltd.

gean Motorway S.A. (Greece), Nea Odos (Greece), SITAF/TEKNOSITAF and CETU (France).

8 1st 6th Newsletter, May September Page 8 Consortium Institute of Communications and Computer Systems (ICCS) AIRBUS DS University Carlos III, Madrid Dpto. De Ingeniera de Sistemas y Automatica Robotics Laboratory(UC3M) VSH Hagerbach Test Gallery Ltd. (VSH) Egnatia Motorway S.A. (EOAE) Institute of Microelectronics and Microsystems, National Research Council of Italy (CNR) RISA Sicherheitsanalysen GmbH (RISA) Techniche e Consulenze Nell Ingegneria Civile S.p.A - Consulting Engineers S.p.A D. Bairaktaris & Associates Structural Design Office Ltd. (DBA) Ecole des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) ROBOTNIK (ROB) END USERS IN THE GROUP End users that participate as partners, associate partners, subcontractors or members of an extended users' group that has been formed are: EUROTUNNEL, London Underground (UK), London Thames Link (UK), London Cross Rail (UK), Parisian metro (France), Attico Metro (Greece), Harcrow Group Ltd., CH2M Hill (UK), HS2 (UK), Egnatia Motorway (Greece), Aegean Motorway S.A. (Greece), Nea Odos (Greece), SITAF/TEKNOSITAF and CETU (France). Contact Us Project Coordinator: Angelos Amditis (a.amditis@iccs.gr) Dissemination Manager: Stephanos Camarinopoulos (s.camarinopoulos@risa.de) Visit us on the web at Join us on robo_spect Twittter group This project has received funding from the European Union s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement no [611145] Join us on LinkedIN group

Issue 4 November 2015

4rth Newsletter, November 2015 NEWS ROBOtic System with Intelligent Vision and Control for Tunnel Structural INSPECTion and Evaluation Issue 4 November 2015 Editorial Welcome to this 's fourth newsletter.