Drainage Services Department (DSD)
The project aims at developing the technology foundations for enabling Digital and Physical Twins of Autonomous Inspection Robotic System for Underground Stormwater Drainage Infrastructure (DPAIRS) by leveraging advanced LIDAR/Vision and Mapping/Navigation methodologies developed in Robotics so that the Inspection process can be conducted with high level of autonomy and with not only semantic but also structural information even in 3D Cluttered environment. In this project, LIDAR/Vision sensors are used for collecting visual and structural data for inspection and Mapping/Navigation purposes. A mobile robotic system is adopted for carrying the payload and moving in the environment of Underground Stormwater Drainage Infrastructure. Based on the information collected, Mapping of 3D Environments is conducted to organize the visual and structural data collected for Photogrammetry and Localization purposes. Given the Mapping information, Navigation in 3D Cluttered environment can be conducted by the mobile robotic system. The Digital and Physical Twins Approach is adopted so that the robotic system can be designed, optimized and validated via the Digital Twin before the actual deployment via the Physical Twin. After the completion of DPAIRS, the technology developed will be enabling the Drainage Services Department (DSD) to further develop sophisticated inspection and monitoring system by deploying more autonomous operations.