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EP-4384421-B1 - ROBOTIC SOURCE DETECTION DEVICE AND METHOD

EP4384421B1EP 4384421 B1EP4384421 B1EP 4384421B1EP-4384421-B1

Inventors

  • CYRUS, Justin
  • GEMER, Andrew Josef
  • Wagner, Van
  • BROKAW, Ben

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20220811

Claims (10)

  1. A robotic vehicle (10) for detecting a source of a gas leak, comprising: a vehicle frame (14); electric drive motors (232) mounted to the vehicle frame (14); wheels (12) connected to drive shafts of the drive motors (232); motor controllers (228) communicating with the drive motors (232) to selectively control rotational movement of the wheels (12); an extendable and retractable mast assembly mounted to the frame (14), the mast assembly including a mast base (16) and a mast (30); a source detection sensor positioned at an upper end of the mast (30); a central computer (202) secured within the vehicle for controlling autonomous operation of the vehicle, said central computer (202) including at least one processor for executing programming tasks and at least one memory element for storing data; a first software application integral with said central computer (202) for receiving data and for executing commands to control the vehicle (10) through a processor of said central computer (202), said controlling comprising selectively raising and lowering said mast assembly to obtain sensor readings at different heights, and said data including navigational data, sensor data obtained at the different heights, environmental data, and user defined data; and at least one navigational camera mounted to the vehicle for providing visual images of an environment in which the vehicle operates.
  2. The robotic vehicle (10) of claim 1, further including: an external network gateway (204) communicating with the central computer (202) to facilitate flow of data between communication networks associated with the vehicle (10).
  3. The robotic vehicle (10) of claim 1, further including: an RTK GPS unit communicating with the central computer to facilitate determining a location of the robotic vehicle (10) through a GPS link.
  4. The robotic vehicle (10) of claim 1, further including: an IMU unit integral with the central computer (202) to establish a spatial orientation of the vehicle during operation.
  5. The robotic vehicle (10) of claim 1, further including: a GPU communicating with the central computer (202) to manage graphics rendering tasks associated with display of selected data and visual images to a remote display device.
  6. The robotic vehicle (10) of claim 1, wherein: said navigational camera includes at least one of a monocular camera, a stereoscopic camera, or a combination thereof; or further including: a pan/tilt mechanism secured to the upper end of the mast adjacent the source detection sensor, said pan/tilt mechanism being operated to control tilt and rotation of said source detection sensor via electronic commands.
  7. The robotic vehicle (10) of claim 1, wherein: said source detection sensor is an optical camera; or said source detection sensor is an infrared camera.
  8. The robotic vehicle (10) of claim 1, wherein: said central computer (202) includes a central processing unit that executes a plurality of functions associated with operation of said robotic vehicle (10), said plurality of functions including; (a) state estimation (248) facilitated by a linear quadratic estimation algorithm used to fuse data from different sensor sources to create an accurate prediction of where said robotic vehicle (10) is located and how said robotic vehicle (10) is moving; (b) at least one source detection and navigation/integration algorithm (250) used for locating and pinpointing a source of a gas leak; (c) path planning logic (252) associated with defining a path of travel of said robotic vehicle (10) in a three-dimensional environment; and (d) a robot controller function (254) used to parse computer coded path instructions and translating them to commands that can be used by said motor controllers (228).
  9. A method for detecting a source of a gas leak, comprising: providing a robotic vehicle (10) including: an extendable and retractable mast assembly mounted to the robotic vehicle (10), a gas detection sensor positioned at an upper end of a mast (30) of the mast assembly, and a central computer (202) secured within the robotic vehicle (10) for controlling autonomous operation of the robotic vehicle (10), said central computer (202) including at least one processor for executing programming tasks and at least one memory element for storing data; positioning the robotic vehicle (10) at a jobsite where a gas leak is suspected; generating commands for the robotic vehicle (10) to commence movement at the jobsite, said commands being processed by said central computer (202) to actuate electric motors of said robotic vehicle (10) to move said robotic vehicle (10) toward a detected leak, said commands being generated from a source detection algorithm based on a gradient descent model, wherein said commands continually refine a position of the robotic vehicle (10) so that it moves to an area of high probability of increased gas concentration; predetermining a path of travel for said robotic vehicle (10) based on initial gas concentrations detected by said gas detection sensor; moving said robotic vehicle (10) along said predetermined path in a first search mode; selectively raising and lowering said mast assembly to obtain sensor readings at different heights as said robotic vehicle (10) travels and when said robotic vehicle (10) comes to a stop; determining, by said central computer (202), whether said sensor readings satisfy one or more conditions indicating a likelihood of a detected leak near or at a present location of the robotic vehicle (10) where sensor readings are taken; determining, by said central computer (202), when said conditions are satisfied to then operate said robotic vehicle (10) in an exploration mode; operating said robotic vehicle (10) in said exploration mode to determine when goal conditions are met, said goal conditions defined as data recorded in an area where said gradient descent model indicates the presence of a higher concentration of gas; and confirming the source of the leak is found by iterative executions of said gradient descent model that are stable.
  10. The method of claim 9, wherein: said central computer (202) includes a central processing unit that executes a plurality of functions associated with operation of said robotic vehicle, said plurality of functions including; (a) state estimation (248) facilitated by a linear quadratic estimation algorithm used to fuse data from different sensor sources to create an accurate prediction of where said robotic vehicle (10) is located and how said robotic vehicle (10) is moving; (b) path planning logic (252) associated with defining a path of travel of said robotic vehicle (10) in a three-dimensional environment; and (c) a robot controller function (254) used to parse computer coded path instructions and translating them to commands that can be used by motor controllers (228); or further including: executing a user interface software application communicating with said robotic vehicle (10) to receive data, display data, and to selectively transfer data to one or more remote computing or communication devices within a communications network, said user interface software application comprising a plurality of user interfaces for displaying data associated with operational functions of said robotic vehicle including recorded data for detected gas concentrations and locations where said gas concentrations were detected.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to detecting, locating and reporting gas leaks at industrial locations, and more particularly, to a device, system, and method for the detection and reporting of methane leaks at industrial locations such as oil and gas production wells, storage tanks, pipelines, and transport of oil and gas resources through pipe distribution networks. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Methane gas is a pollutant that is attributed to global warming and other maladies. A significant percentage of methane gas emissions originate from oil and gas facilities. As a consequence of known methane gas emissions, regulatory requirements have increased thereby making productions in methane gas emissions important from not only a regulatory concern, but also as a general environmental concern. One known method for detection of methane leaks is the use of infrared (IR) cameras that are used to generate images which can reveal sources of methane leaks. Because methane gas quickly distributes through the surrounding atmosphere, the mere presence of methane gas at an oil and gas facility does not pinpoint the location of the leak. In order to pinpoint methane leaks, attempts have been made to deploy stationary IR cameras at various locations within a site, but at a prohibitive cost because high-quality IR cameras are expensive. More recent attempts have been made to deploy IR cameras on a movable platform, such as an aerial vehicle. One example of a US patent reference that discloses a remote system for gas leak detection is the US Patent No. 10,704,981. This reference teaches a scanning system for producing a concentration map of a leaking gas. A tunable light source is used to adjust its wavelength over the absorption band of the gas of interest. The system includes the tuned light source, a lightweight mirror to scan the light, a lightweight collection optic, an array of detectors to measure reflected light, one or more processors configured to align the scanning with the detected signal and analyze the signal to produce a path averaged concentration map of the leaking gas. The processors are configured to use an analytical model of plume dynamics to compare the detected concentration map and calculate leak location and rate. A flying unmanned vehicle can be used to carry sensors in order to detect and collect gas data to produce the concentration map. Another reference that teaches the use of IR cameras on a mobile platform for detection of gas leaks is the US Patent No. 10,113,956. This references discloses a system to remotely detect gas leakage by use of a mobile platform that carries two light sources: a mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser for detecting absorbance of the gas in the area, and a visible laser for detecting a pathlength of the mid-IR laser. The absorption is determined based on the relative amplitude difference of the emitted and reflected mid-IR light beams. The mid-IR laser may use wavelength modulation techniques to improve the absorption determination. The pathlength is determined by comparing a phase between the emitted visible light beam and the measured visible light beam. The gas detection system calculates a concentration of the gas in the area using the determined absorption and pathlength. The mobile platform may be an unmanned aerial vehicle. Yet another reference that teaches the use of IR cameras on a mobile platform for gas leak detection is the US Patent No. 6,7430,467. The invention disclosed in this reference is a vehicle mounted gas detector device comprising a laser transmitter and signal analyzer carried on the vehicle. The vehicle has a laser absorption cell mounted on the exterior of the vehicle, a light guide connecting light from the laser transmitter into the laser absorption cell, a photo-detector mounted with the laser absorption cell exterior to the vehicle to convert light that has traversed the laser absorption cell into electrical signals, and a cable connecting the photodetector to the signal analyzer. US2012/078417A1 describes techniques for leak detection in an indoor environment using one or more mobile robots for taking temperature and air flow measurements at a number of different locations. Temperature and air flow sensors of the robot are located on an automated telescoping mast to allow access under overhanging obstacles. KR101881123B1 describes gas leak detection drones. A gas measuring apparatus is mounted on an unmanned air vehicle which comprises a housing having an opening formed therein. The apparatus again uses an IR light source mounted inside the housing which emits IR light through the opening, and an IR ray detector installed at one side of the IR ray source for receiving IR rays reflected from an external gas. The apparatus includes a distance measuring instrument installed at one side of the IR light source or detector to determine the distance to the measured position by irradiating the laser beam toward the measured position. CN103