US 12,455,354 B2
Autonomous mobile aircraft inspection system
Amer Liaqat, Bristol (GB); Lloyd Tinkler, Bristol (GB); and Philip Yates, Bristol (GB)
Assigned to AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED, Bristol (GB)
Appl. No. 17/593,344
Filed by AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED, Bristol (GB)
PCT Filed Jun. 23, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/067483
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 16, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/260272, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 30, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 1909386 (GB), filed on Jun. 28, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0187428 A1, Jun. 16, 2022
Int. Cl. G01S 17/89 (2020.01); B64F 5/60 (2017.01); G01S 7/48 (2006.01); G01S 7/481 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01); G06T 7/00 (2017.01); B64F 5/00 (2017.01)
CPC G01S 7/4817 (2013.01) [B64F 5/60 (2017.01); G01S 7/4802 (2013.01); G01S 17/89 (2013.01); G05D 1/0274 (2013.01); G06T 7/001 (2013.01); G06T 2207/10028 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30252 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An autonomous inspection system comprising:
an autonomous mobile robot,
the autonomous mobile robot having a plurality of two-dimensional LiDAR scanners, wherein each of the two dimensional LiDAR scanners has a two-dimensional scanning plane,
the plurality of scanners being mounted on the autonomous mobile robot with scanning plane orientations which are non-coplanar; and
a processor configured to:
navigate the autonomous mobile robot within surroundings of the autonomous mobile robot;
during the navigation cause the plurality of two-dimensional LiDAR scanners on the autonomous mobile robot to scan the surroundings in each of the two-dimensional scanning planes and from the scan generate point data of the surroundings of the autonomous mobile robot;
compile the point data from the plurality of LiDAR scanners into a three-dimensional plot of the surroundings of the autonomous mobile robot;
from the three-dimensional plot of the surroundings, identify dimensions and/or a profile of an aerostructure within the surroundings;
obtain information regarding a design specification of the aerostructure which comprises design dimensions and/or a design profile of the aerostructure;
compare the dimensions and/or the profile of the aerostructure identified within the three-dimensional plot to the design dimensions and/or the design profile of the aerostructure from the design specification;
identify defects and/or non-conformities on the aerostructure based on the comparison, and
generate and output inspection data containing information regarding the defects and/or non-conformities.