USAL designs a robotic helicopter that captures thermal images.
It studies the energy efficiency and structural damage of buildings and also allows for the three-dimensional reconstruction of monuments.
A multidisciplinary team from the University of Salamanca (USAL), made up of surveyors, physicists, mathematicians and industrial and mining engineers, is working in Ávila on the development of a research project with novel applications in the world of engineering and heritage. The project is a Robotic Aerial System (SAR) called ‘oktokopter’ – eight arms or propellers and eight motors – that can fly without a pilot and, given its small size and remote control, reach corners that are difficult for humans to access, capturing images that can then be reproduced in 3D for different applications. These include the inspection of large bridges, the emptying of quarries and everything related to heritage – elevations, profiles, sections. Added to all this is the possibility, currently in development, of carrying out energy efficiency studies in buildings using a thermal camera or measuring water stress in plants. The latter case could be interesting for winegrowers. This research project, which for the moment only has application in the university field, is being developed by the Information Technology for Heritage Documentation (TIDOP) research group, led by USAL researcher Diego González Aguilera, PhD in the Engineering Area of Cartography, Geodesy and Photogrammetry. He is also joined by industrial engineer Jesús Fernández Hernández, associate professor at USAL, as well as other younger researchers such as Pablo Rodríguez Gonzálvez and Juan Mancera Taboada. Both González Aguilera and Fernández Hernández agree that what is new is that this USAL team is taking “a step further” by trying, through research, to obtain “added value for the platform.”
COST AND RISK SAVINGS
This project, promoted by the University of Salamanca and still in the development process, represents a step forward from the research point of view, but also in terms of cost savings, as well as in the possible reduction of work accidents, by being able to intervene in dangerous and difficult-to-access places. Research is being carried out in different directions. One of them is the development of tools and computer programs to expand the operational and navigation capabilities of these platforms. In this way, it is intended to improve not only the way of controlling the device, but also to improve its positioning. Another of the originalities that the TIDOP group intends to include is the one derived from research into new low-cost sensors, which enable the three-dimensional location of the ship with greater precision.
DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS AND VINEYARDS
This is the area in which the possibility of including a thermal camera that can detect other data that are almost imperceptible to the naked eye, such as structural damage, and carrying out energy efficiency studies is being studied. This issue could be very interesting for detecting energy efficiency in buildings and even discovering heat loss in some of them, when this circumstance occurs. The development of this application is being carried out in collaboration with the University of Castilla-La Mancha, as is the NDVI camera system, which can measure water stress in plants. This system incorporated into the ‘oktokopter’ could be very interesting for winegrowers in the Community, since they would be able to control whether their vineyards need more water or, on the contrary, have too much. To do this, infrared cameras with different wavelengths would be used.
MONUMENTOS EN 3D
Another innovation that the USAL team intends to introduce into the robotic aerial system is “the implementation of 3D simulators, which allow the planning, study and simulation of environments in 3 dimensions, facilitating flight plans and semi-autonomous flights of the platforms,” explains Diego González Aguilera. In addition, this system would allow the reconstruction of environments in 3D, from aerial photographs taken from robotic aerial platforms and from the ground. In this way, spherical photos can be taken to obtain 360-degree photos. The project intends to include the possibility of designing a flight plan for the aircraft prior to takeoff so that it can take virtual photos that can be used for the subsequent simulated reproduction of buildings, monuments, quarries or infrastructures in 3D.
