VIZTA

Innovative technologies in the field of optical sensors and short, medium and long-range 3D devices to demonstrate their value in several key applications in the automotive, security, smart buildings, mobile robotics for smart cities and Industry 4.0 sectors.

VIZTA project also focuses on multimodal 2D/3D imaging, proposing a monolithic integration that enables smaller, cheaper and more efficient systems. The innovation of VIZTA significantly improves the multimodal 2D/3D imaging current systems which use two separate sensors to capture the depth and the colour image.

Aerial vehicles are becoming a relevant tool for the inspection of many infrastructures due to their excellent ability to gather visual data, especially in difficult access areas. Current inspections are usually conducted manually, wherein the pilot is responsible for ensuring that cameras cover all the relevant scenes and that the quality of the gathered data is enough to identify targeted defects.

With the advent of novel sensing technologies and methodologies for visual inspection and navigation, surveying infrastructures with Unmanned Aerial Robots (UAV) has become of utmost interest as they can provide accurate representations of the targeted environments with almost no intervention. However, there are still navigation challenges in deploying these systems in closed installations, such as tunnels or sewer systems.

Within VIZTA, the Robotics and Automation Unit of Eurecat has developed perception and navigation algorithms for drone-based autonomous tunnel inspection and efficient data retrieval focused on exploiting the benefits and particularities of novel Time-Of-Flight (ToF) sensors boosted by the project consortium.

The VIZTA project has permitted Eurecat to develop an enhanced drone-based solution for the inspection of tunnel-like infrastructures, which is automated, modular and adaptable, ensures the inspection coverage and quality, and simplifies the piloting action.

Through the developed technologies, Eurecat has paved the way for the drone service provider companies towards the deployment of the upcoming inspection solutions, allowing the integration of drones not only as data gathering tools, but as part of a fully automated inspection process.

The consortium of the project, coordinated by STMicroelectronics Crolles (France), counts with the participation of 23 partners from 9 European countries.