Fonte: ANEEL
CLIC Energiapresents the first of the 30 selected projects for the P&D magazine 5th Edition, launched on 18/05/13, during the VII Congress of Technological Innovation in Electricity (CITENEL) and III Seminar on Energy Efficiency in the Electricity Sector (SEENEL), conducted in Rio de Janeiro (RJ).
The project deals with the use of robots to remotely monitor the inspection of the turbines of hydroelectric plants. The publication on the website accompanies the insertion order in the magazine. The goal is to present to the society the results achieved with the P&D projects.
AES Tietê Project
The inspection of the turbines of hydroelectric plants is a complex task and prone to accidents, since it involves specialized divers. Seeking to reduce the risks and costs of operation, AES Tietê commissioned to the Foundation for the Development of Bauru (FUNDEB – UNESP) a system for processing and analysis of images, captured by a remotely controlled robot.
The prototype robot has a system with two cameras. One of them, equivalent to the operator's eye, displays the obstacles in the path of the robot. The second, with color video signal, captures the images to be analyzed. The robot is controlled from a joystick, a camera control and a video monitor, which also records the depth of the vehicle, its direction and geographical position (latitude and longitude).
For the analysis of videos, a graphical interface that allows, among others, the image filtering to improve the quality and clarity, the extraction of distinctive features and pattern recognition was developed. The system operates on intelligent algorithms and a module to correct the distortions of color and tone in underwater imagery. Field tests evidenced the great potential that remote inspection has to replace the current procedures. The next challenge is to improve the robot's navigation through positioning and location sensors, considering the great turmoil caused by the return water from the spillway of a hydroelectric plant. Read more about it here
