Remote Inspection Robot

Project Description and Services Provided

The Thames Tideway Sewer in London is 25km long and up to 7m in diameter, designed to prevent storm water overflow from being discharged into the river Thames. As part of underlying inspection requirements to maintain compliance with regulations, it must be inspected frequently. A conventional inspection of the sewer with personnel would be a hazardous and unpleasant task. Therefore, this work sought to provide a remote solution to the problem.

The project was run as a competition between Amentum and a competing organisation, as part of a trial programme run by Bazalgette Tunnel Limited (Tideway). The project goal was to scan a 1km length of the tunnel, demonstrating capability to visualise data, detect features and operate across a 7km total inspection distance. Amentum developed a robotic vehicle solution with an array of sensors and camera technology to inspect the tunnel, as detailed by this case study.

Solutions and Outcome

Amentum developed a solution to this challenge which seeks to deploy a variety of sensory equipment on a tracked vehicle platform to facilitate a remote means of sewer inspection. The system incorporates Lidar and camera technology to perform the inspection and detect the required information. Following data capture along the tunnel, the resulting images and sensory data can be fed into photogrammetry software and visualised as a 3D model.