Autonomous robot platform for environment inspection and 3D modelling

• Main Author: Ang, Jiun Lock
• Other Authors: Goh Wang Ling
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Control and instrumentation::Robotics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/157809
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The use of autonomous robot for inspection and 3D data collection can significantly improve the efficiency of inspection and environmental 3D modelling. In the construction industry, routine inspections are a crucial part of every construction project to ensure that construction is conducted in accordance with the design, requirements, standards, and regulations. Therefore tedious work from on-site engineers is needed to monitor the building quality, usually by visual checking for defects or manual measurement for geometries. With the use of robots, construction work will be done with higher productivity by saving time and manpower cost. The challenges of building the robot include the robot platform design with multiple sensors to fulfil different inspection and data collection tasks, navigation and safety control within a complex and dynamic workplace environment, and robot positioning to facilitate the integration of collected 3D data. This report describes the process of the design, construction and creation of an autonomous robot that will assist in surveillance and progress monitoring of construction sites. The design includes the sensor, battery, and devices such as router placement. Working principles of sensors such as Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) , ultrasonic sensor and 3D laser scanner are closely studied and considered before the design process. The construction and creation of the robot consist of the hardware architecture, power flow and data transmissions between the robot’s devices. There is a total of 3 modes the robot can operate in, catering to different conditions as the construction site environment is everchanging. The robot operates on Robot Operating System (ROS) with various packages used which is discussed in the software section. It further describes the algorithm the robot uses to navigate while keeping safety as an utmost priority.