A Vision-based Robotic Platform for Large-diameter Sewerage Inspection

Although the deep tunnel sewerage environment is unhealthy and dangerous for humans, most inspection and maintenance tasks are performed manually. This work presents a robotic solution for Singapore’s deep tunnel sewerage system, ranging from 20 to 50 m below ground. The robotic platform includes a mobile robot and an umbilical cable that allows the system to inspect and capture tunnel information up to 500 m. The system also offers the capability of stitching the captured tunnel images to form a complete tunnel map to enhance the investigation capability. The system has been tested and deployed at some deep sewerage locations in Singapore.