TY - JOUR
T1 - The Design of Prometheus: A Reconfigurable UAV for Subterranean Mine Inspection
AU - Brown, Liam
AU - Clarke, Robert J
AU - Akbari, Ali
AU - Bhandari, Ujjar
AU - Bernardini, Sara
AU - Chhabra, Puneet
AU - Marjanovic, Ognjen
AU - Richardson, Tom S
AU - Watson, Simon
PY - 2020/11/18
Y1 - 2020/11/18
N2 - The inspection of legacy mine workings is a difficult, time consuming, costly task, as traditional methods require multiple boreholes to be drilled to allow sensors to be placed in the voids. Discrete sampling of the void from static locations also means that full coverage of the area cannot be achieved and occluded areas and side tunnels may not be fully mapped. The aim of the Prometheus project is to develop an autonomous robotic solution that is able to inspect the mine workings from a single borehole. This paper presents the challenges of operating autonomous aerial vehicles in such an environment, as well as physically entering the void with an autonomous robot. The paper address how some of these challenges can be overcome with bespoke design and intelligent controllers. It details the design of a reconfigurable UAV that is able to be deployed through a 150 mm borehole and unfold to a tip-to-tip diameter of 780 mm, allowing it to carry a payload suitable for a full autonomous mission.
AB - The inspection of legacy mine workings is a difficult, time consuming, costly task, as traditional methods require multiple boreholes to be drilled to allow sensors to be placed in the voids. Discrete sampling of the void from static locations also means that full coverage of the area cannot be achieved and occluded areas and side tunnels may not be fully mapped. The aim of the Prometheus project is to develop an autonomous robotic solution that is able to inspect the mine workings from a single borehole. This paper presents the challenges of operating autonomous aerial vehicles in such an environment, as well as physically entering the void with an autonomous robot. The paper address how some of these challenges can be overcome with bespoke design and intelligent controllers. It details the design of a reconfigurable UAV that is able to be deployed through a 150 mm borehole and unfold to a tip-to-tip diameter of 780 mm, allowing it to carry a payload suitable for a full autonomous mission.
U2 - 10.3390/robotics9040095
DO - 10.3390/robotics9040095
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
SN - 2218-6581
VL - 9
JO - Robotics
JF - Robotics
IS - 4
M1 - 95
ER -