Recent activities on clearance in IAEA and clearance automatic laser inspection system (CLALIS)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hattori, Takatoshi; Sasaki, Michiya
2005-01-01
Exemption levels for bulk amounts of materials have been described in RS-G-1.7 published as a safety guide in IAEA on August 2004. In Japan, the Nuclear Safety Commission adopted the RS-G-1.7 values as Japanese clearance levels after the careful review of dose assessment results. After completing revises of regulatory laws in relation to clearance level, solid wastes from decommissioning and operating nuclear power plants will be targets of clearance inspection. In CRIEPI, Clearance Automatic Laser Inspection System (CLALIS) has been developed, which can give high reliability and objectivity to the measurement data. The CLALIS is a new monitoring system coupling with 3D laser shape measurement, Monte-Carlo calculation and gamma measurement techniques, which can keep a high accuracy in the measurement data using an automatic correction technique for self-shielding effects of metal waste itself and is expected to apply as a practical use in actual clearance inspections. (author)
Development of an automatic reactor inspection system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Jae Hee; Eom, Heung Seop; Lee, Jae Cheol; Choi, Yoo Raek; Moon, Soon Seung
2002-02-01
Using recent technologies on a mobile robot computer science, we developed an automatic inspection system for weld lines of the reactor vessel. The ultrasonic inspection of the reactor pressure vessel is currently performed by commercialized robot manipulators. Since, however, the conventional fixed type robot manipulator is very huge, heavy and expensive, it needs long inspection time and is hard to handle and maintain. In order to resolve these problems, we developed a new automatic inspection system using a small mobile robot crawling on the vertical wall of the reactor vessel. According to our conceptual design, we developed the reactor inspection system including an underwater inspection robot, a laser position control subsystem, an ultrasonic data acquisition/analysis subsystem and a main control subsystem. We successfully carried out underwater experiments on the reactor vessel mockup, and real reactor ready for Ulchine nuclear power plant unit 6 at Dusan Heavy Industry in Korea. After this project, we have a plan to commercialize our inspection system. Using this system, we can expect much reduction of the inspection time, performance enhancement, automatic management of inspection history, etc. In the economic point of view, we can also expect import substitution more than 4 million dollars. The established essential technologies for intelligent control and automation are expected to be synthetically applied to the automation of similar systems in nuclear power plants
RIMACS, Reactor Inspection Main Control System
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
2008-01-01
1 - Description of program or function: RIMACS prepares for automatic inspection files on each inspection item for the reactor. These automatic inspection files provide the data to move RIROB (Reactor Inspection Robot) with laser by interpreting the coordinates of LASPO (Laser Positioner) and the laser detecting device of RIROB in three dimensional space. In addition, when RIROB arrives at the inspecting location, the files provide all values of the manipulator's motions to acquire the ultrasonic data. RIMACS provides various modules in order to perform these complex functions, and the functions are programmed on graphic user interface for the convenience of the user. RIMACS provides various functions, such as insertion of reactor production data, selection of the reactor for inspection, the creation of automatic inspection file, the selection of the inspection item, inspection simulation, and automatic inspection procedures. It also provides all other functions, which are necessary for the inspection, such as operating program download and manual control of LASPO and RIROB, the inspection simulation and the inspection status display by means of the graphic screen, and SODAS (ultra-Sonic Data Acquisition System) drive verification. 2 - Methods: Moving path and operation procedures for inspection robot are generated automatically with Kinematics algorithm. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: A graphics display with MS-Window capability is required
Detecting accuracy of flaws by manual and automatic ultrasonic inspections
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Iida, K.
1988-01-01
As the final stage work in the nine year project on proving tests of the ultrasonic inspection technique applied to the ISI of LWR plants, automatic ultrasonic inspection tests were carried out on EDM notches, surface fatigue cracks, weld defects and stress corrosion cracks, which were deliberately introduced in full size structural components simulating a 1,100 MWe BWR. Investigated items are the performance of a newly assembled automatic inspection apparatus, detection limit of flaws, detection resolution of adjacent collinear or parallel EDM notches, detection reproducibility and detection accuracy. The manual ultrasonic inspection of the same flaws as inspected by the automatic ultrasonic inspection was also carried out in order to have comparative data. This paper reports how it was confirmed that the automatic ultrasonic inspection is much superior to the manual inspection in the flaw detection rate and in the detection reproducibility
On automatic visual inspection of reflective surfaces
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Kulmann, Lionel
1995-01-01
surfaces, providing new and exciting applications subject to automated visual inspection. Several contextual features have been surveyed along with introduction of novel methods to perform data-dependent enhancement of local surface appearance . Morphological methods have been described and utilized......This thesis descrbes different methods to perform automatic visual inspection of reflective manufactured products, with the aim of increasing productivity, reduce cost and improve the quality level of the production. We investigate two different systems performing automatic visual inspection....... The first is the inspection of highly reflective aluminum sheets, used by the Danish company Bang & Olufsen, as a part of the exterior design and general appearance of their audio and video products. The second is the inspection of IBM hard disk read/write heads for defects during manufacturing. We have...
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sasaki, Michiya; Ogino, Haruyuki; Ichiji, Takeshi; Hattori, Takatoshi
2008-01-01
In the clearance level inspection in Japan, it is necessary to indicate that the activity level of the target object must be less than not only the clearance levels, but also the surface contamination density standards. The classification measurements for these two standards have been performed separately, and the GM survey meters based on beta-ray measurement have mainly been used for surface contamination density measurement so far. Recently the Clearance Automatic Laser Inspection System, named CLALIS, has been developed to estimate the low-level activity concentration. This system consists of 3-dimensional laser scanner for shape measurement and eight large NE102A plastic scintillation detectors for gamma-ray measurement, and it has been clarified that the CLALIS has adequate detection ability for clearance measurement of both metal scraps and concrete debris. In this study, we compared the surface contamination densities for a number of actual contaminated and non-contaminated objects generated inside from the radiation controlled area at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station by using the CLALIS and the GM survey meter. As a result, since CLALIS could detect the surface contamination as well as the GM survey meter for all measurement targets, it was revealed that CLALIS can rationally achieve clearance level inspection in a single radiation measurement. The practicality of CLALIS in view of the detection limit and processing time was discussed by comparison with the usual radiation monitors for surface contamination measurement. (author)
Equipment for fully automatic radiographic pipe inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Basler, G.; Sperl, H.; Weinschenk, K.
1977-01-01
The patent describes a device for fully automatic radiographic testing of large pipes with longitudinal welds. Furthermore the invention enables automatic marking of films in radiographic inspection with regard to a ticketing of the test piece and of that part of it where testing took place. (RW) [de
Laser Safety Inspection Criteria
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Barat, K.
2005-01-01
A responsibility of the Laser Safety Officer (LSO) is to perform laser audits. The American National Standard Z136.1 Safe Use of Lasers references this requirement through several sections. One such reference is Section 1.3.2.8, Safety Features Audits, ''The LSO shall ensure that the safety features of the laser installation facilities and laser equipment are audited periodically to assure proper operation''. The composition, frequency and rigor of that inspection/audit rests in the hands of the LSO. A common practice for institutions is to develop laser audit checklists or survey forms It is common for audit findings from one inspector or inspection to the next to vary even when reviewing the same material. How often has one heard a comment, ''well this area has been inspected several times over the years and no one ever said this or that was a problem before''. A great number of audit items, and therefore findings, are subjective because they are based on the experience and interest of the auditor to particular items on the checklist. Beam block usage, to one set of eyes might be completely adequate, while to another, inadequate. In order to provide consistency, the Laser Safety Office of the National Ignition Facility Directorate has established criteria for a number of items found on the typical laser safety audit form. The criteria are distributed to laser users. It serves two broad purposes; first, it gives the user an expectation of what will be reviewed by an auditor. Second, it is an opportunity to explain audit items to the laser user and thus the reasons for some of these items, such as labelling of beam blocks
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Gallardo-Lancho gonzalez, J. F.
2010-07-01
In recent years, development has addressed Enusa a second generation robot for automatic inspection of tablets incorporating the following advances: more advanced systems that improve vision quality inspection equipment, conducting the inspection in line with the grinding operation, increased productivity of the inspection process to be unnecessary pills buildup in trays and lay-out of the most rational equipment allowing cleaning it easier and faster. This second generation machine is already part of the automatic inspection equipment developed by Enusa and is an example of the ongoing commitment to the development Enusa and innovation in nuclear technology.
Development of automatic inspection robot for nuclear power plants
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yamada, K.; Suzuki, K.; Saitoh, K.; Sakaki, T.; Ohe, Y.; Mizutani, T.; Segawa, M.; Kubo, K.
1987-01-01
This robot system has been developed for automatic inspection of nuclear power plants. The system configuration is composed of vehicle that runs on monorail, the sensors on the vehicle, an image processer that processes the image information from the sensors, a computer that creates the inspection planning of the robot and an operation panel. This system has two main features, the first is the robot control system. The vehicle and the sensors are controlled by the output data calculated in the computer with the three dimensional plant data. The malfunction is recognized by the combination of the results of image processing, information from the microphone and infrared camera. Tests for a prototype automatic inspection robot system have been performed in the simulated main steam piping room of a nuclear power plant
Semi-automatic ultrasonic inspection of PWR upper internal immersed components
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Dombret, P.; Coquette, A.; Cermak, J.; Verspeelt, D.
1985-01-01
The present paper describes the characteristics of a semi-automatic ultrasonic inspection system. Components inspected are the so-called flexures, small pins located at the upper part of control rod tube-guide, some of which happened to broke in a few Westinghouse type PWR's. Inspection results and other system capabilities are also mentioned
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sasaki, M.; Ogino, H.; Hattori, T.
2009-01-01
In the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant, large amounts of metal scrap and concrete segments require disposal when dismantling the nuclear reactor and surrounding facilities. When their activity level is negligible or sufficiently small, they can be regarded as general industrial waste. To distinguish between radioactive and nonradioactive materials, the clearance level for each radionuclide has been determined in units of activity concentration. These clearance levels are indicated in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Standards Series No. RS-G-1.7. The Japanese regulatory authority decided in 2005 to adopt the values given in RS-G-1.7 as clearance levels in legislation. Recently, a Clearance Automatic Laser Inspection System (CLALIS) has been developed utilizing gamma-ray measurement, automatic laser shape measurement and Monte Carlo calculation. CLALIS comprises four laser scanners and eight large plastic scintillation detectors surrounded by a 5-cm-thick lead shield. Using three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning, a measurement target, which is placed on the measuring tray, is represented as a dot image. The dot image is converted into voxels after noise removal, and is written in MCNP (A General Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code System) input files. When the gamma-ray measurement is carried out, the MCNP calculations are also carried out to obtain the calibration factor and background (BG) correction factors. For the clearance measurement of concrete segments, the effect of gamma-rays from natural radionuclides in the measurement target, such as K-40 and the radioactive decay products of Th-232 and U-238, should be taken into account to ensure adequate waste management. Since NE102A plastic scintillation detectors are used for gamma-ray measurement in CLALIS, it is impossible to distinguish between the count rates of natural radionuclides and contaminants on the basis of gamma-ray energy information. To overcome this problem, the
Development of automatic laser welding system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ohwaki, Katsura
2002-01-01
Laser are a new production tool for high speed and low distortion welding and applications to automatic welding lines are increasing. IHI has long experience of laser processing for the preservation of nuclear power plants, welding of airplane engines and so on. Moreover, YAG laser oscillators and various kinds of hardware have been developed for laser welding and automation. Combining these welding technologies and laser hardware technologies produce the automatic laser welding system. In this paper, the component technologies are described, including combined optics intended to improve welding stability, laser oscillators, monitoring system, seam tracking system and so on. (author)
Rail inspection using noncontact laser ultrasonics
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Nak Hyeon; Sohn, Hoon; Han, Soon Woo
2012-01-01
In this study, a noncontact laser ultrasonic system is proposed for rail defect detection. An Nd Yag pulse laser is used for generation of ultrasonic waves, and the corresponding ultrasonic responses are measured by a laser Doppler vibrometer. For the detection of rail surface damages, the shape of the excitation laser beam is transformed into a line. On the other hand, a point source laser beam is used for the inspection of defects inside a rail head. Then, the interactions of propagating ultrasonic waves with defects are examined using actual rail specimens. Amplitude attenuation was mainly observed for a surface crack, and reflections were most noticeable from an internal damage. Finally, opportunities and challenges associated with real time rail inspection from a high speed train are discussed
Contribution to the study of an on line inspection system for pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding operations
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Charton, Stephane
1999-01-01
This thesis deals with the study of a on line inspection system for pulsed Nd 3+ :YAG laser welding operations. During a welding operation, laser-material interaction results in the emission of signals (optical, acoustical, electrical, thermal), characteristic of its behavior. On line inspection is based on the hypothesis that the signals evolutions, measured by sensors such as photodiodes, microphones.., may be correlated with the welding defects. Laser weld quality inspection can be done by the machine qualification (before and during welding), and by on line monitoring of the welding operation. The similarity of the signals produced by pulsed lasers (machine or interaction) has led us to develop a specific data acquisition and processing software. Signal processing tools utilization (Fourier and wavelets transforms) in conjunction with classification techniques (stress polytopes), introduces an innovating on line inspection approach. Discriminant parameters determination (signals/defect correlation) becomes thus automatic and non subjective. The developed prototype is not dedicated to the detection of a particular defect because the classification operator is a supervised one and needs a learning phase. lt has been validated on welding defects which are easy to deal with, and then applied to a precise production control at the Nuclear Fabrications and Technology Division of the Valduc Center of the French Atomic Energy Agency. (author) [fr
Laser Safety Inspection Criteria
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Barat, K
2005-01-01
A responsibility of the Laser Safety Officer (LSO) is to perform laser safety audits. The American National Standard Z136.1 Safe use of Lasers references this requirement in several sections: (1) Section 1.3.2 LSO Specific Responsibilities states under Hazard Evaluation, ''The LSO shall be responsible for hazards evaluation of laser work areas''; (2) Section 1.3.2.8, Safety Features Audits, ''The LSO shall ensure that the safety features of the laser installation facilities and laser equipment are audited periodically to assure proper operation''; and (3) Appendix D, under Survey and Inspections, it states, ''the LSO will survey by inspection, as considered necessary, all areas where laser equipment is used''. Therefore, for facilities using Class 3B and or Class 4 lasers, audits for laser safety compliance are expected to be conducted. The composition, frequency and rigueur of that inspection/audit rests in the hands of the LSO. A common practice for institutions is to develop laser audit checklists or survey forms. In many institutions, a sole Laser Safety Officer (LSO) or a number of Deputy LSO's perform these audits. For that matter, there are institutions that request users to perform a self-assessment audit. Many items on the common audit list and the associated findings are subjective because they are based on the experience and interest of the LSO or auditor in particular items on the checklist. Beam block usage is an example; to one set of eyes a particular arrangement might be completely adequate, while to another the installation may be inadequate. In order to provide more consistency, the National Ignition Facility Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (NIF-LLNL) has established criteria for a number of items found on the typical laser safety audit form. These criteria are distributed to laser users, and they serve two broad purposes: first, it gives the user an expectation of what will be reviewed by an auditor, and second, it is an
Optical technologies for measurement and inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Mader, D.L.
1997-01-01
Ontario Hydro has benefited from specialized optical measurement techniques such as FRILS (fret replica inspection laser system), which permits in-house inspections of pressure tube replicas and has been estimated to save $2M per year. This paper presents a brief overview of (1) FRILS, (2) OPIT (in-reactor Optical Profilometry Inspection Tool), (3) miniature optical probe for steam generator tubes, (4) laser vibrometer used for end-fitting vibration, and (5) computer vision to recognize the ends of fuel bundles and automatically measure their lengths. (author)
Mueller, Peter; Pietzsch, Karl; Feige, Christian
1989-02-01
At a time of rapid development, introduction of new technologies, and increasing world-wide competition, the quality specifications for products and materials becoming even more demanding. This also applies with regard to the avoidance of defects in the surfaces of materials. Consequently there is a need for systems which allow 100% in-line testing of materials and surfaces during the production of, e.g. textiles, data storage media, papers, films and metals. Thanks to its optical and electronical precision, its unlimited applications - even under the most severe conditions-and its absolutely constant acuity, compared with visual inspection, the Sick-Scan-System is an excellent means for improving quality and profits in industrial manufacture, reducing rejects production and thus providing even more customer satisfaction. Here we describe briefly our laser scanner technology. It will set new standards in the area of automatic inspection, and the term laser tested will stablish itself as a mark of quality. In the last few years laser scanning inspection systems have been further developed in collaboration with a large number of materials manufacturers. These systems have been adopted in modern production lines and demonstrate their economy.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Cheong, Yong Moo; Jung, H. K.; Joo, Y. S.; Koo, K. M.; Hyung, H.; Sim, C. M.; Gong, U. S.; Kim, S. H.; Lee, J. P.; Rhoo, H. C.; Kim, M. S.; Ryoo, S. K.; Choi, C. H.; Oh, K. I.
1999-12-01
One of the important issues related to the nuclear safety is in-service inspection of reactor pressure vessel (RPV). A remote controlled automatic ultrasonic method is applied to the inspection. At present the automatic ultrasonic inspection system owned by KAERI is interrupted due to degradation of parts. In order to resume field inspection new remote control system for the equipment was designed and installed to the existing equipment. New ultrasonic sensors and their modules for RPV inspection were designed and fabricated in accordance with the new requirements of the inspection codes. Ultrasonic sensors were verified for the use in the RPV inspection. (author)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Cheong, Yong Moo; Jung, H. K.; Joo, Y. S.; Koo, K. M.; Hyung, H.; Sim, C. M.; Gong, U. S.; Kim, S. H.; Lee, J. P.; Rhoo, H. C.; Kim, M. S.; Ryoo, S. K.; Choi, C. H.; Oh, K. I
1999-12-01
One of the important issues related to the nuclear safety is in-service inspection of reactor pressure vessel (RPV). A remote controlled automatic ultrasonic method is applied to the inspection. At present the automatic ultrasonic inspection system owned by KAERI is interrupted due to degradation of parts. In order to resume field inspection new remote control system for the equipment was designed and installed to the existing equipment. New ultrasonic sensors and their modules for RPV inspection were designed and fabricated in accordance with the new requirements of the inspection codes. Ultrasonic sensors were verified for the use in the RPV inspection. (autho0008.
A computerised automatic pellet inspection unit for FBTR fuel
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ramakumar, M.S.; Mahule, K.N.; Ghosh, J.K.; Venkatesh, D.
1984-01-01
Physical inspection and certification of nuclear reactor fuel element components is an activity demanding utmost imagination and skill in devising accurate measuring systems. There is also need for remote handling, automation, rapid processing and inspection data print out when dealing with reactor fuel material. This report deals with an automatic computerised fuel pellet inspection system that has been developed in Radiometallurgy Division, B.A.R.C. to carry out dimensional and weight measurements on fuel pellets for the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) at Kalpakkam near Madras. The system consists of several subsystems each developed especially for a specific purpose and as such items are not available off the shelf from manufacturers in India. If a general approach is adopted towards the report, there are many innovations and ideas that can be used in the automatic inspection of a variety of products in industry. As the system is fairly involved the report does not attempt to deal with detailed description of the equipment. The function of the system is to accept a certain quantity of fuel pellets in a bowl feeder, separate the pellets rejected owing to their exceeding dimensional and weight limits and form columns of accepted pellets. Dimensional and weight limits can be set as required and all inspection data are presented in a printed format. The system processes pellets at the rate of 15 per minute. The entire system can be run by operators with no special skills. The unit is currently in use for the inspection of mixed carbide fuel pellets for FBTR. (author)
Ultrasonic inspection of AA6013 laser welded joints
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Adriano Passini
2011-09-01
Full Text Available Interest in laser beam welding for aerospace applications is continuously growing, mainly for aluminum alloys. The joints quality is usually assessed by non-destructive inspection (NDI. In this work, bead on plate laser welds on 1.6 mm thick AA6013 alloy sheets, using a 2 kW Yb-fiber laser were obtained and inspected by pulse/echo ultrasonic phased-array technique. Good and poor quality welds were inspected in order to verify the limits of inspection, comparing also to X-ray radiography and metallographic inspections. The results showed that ultrasonic phased array technique was able to identify the presence of grouped porosity, through the attenuation of the amplitude of the echo signal. This attenuation is attributed to the scattering of the waves caused by micro pores, with individual size below the resolution limit of the equipment, but when grouped, can cause a perceptive effect on the reflection spectra.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gundtoft, H.E.; Nielsen, N.
1976-06-01
In Risoe's automatic tube inspection system, data (more than half a million per tube) from ultrasonic dimension measurements and defect inspections are fed into a computer that simultaneously calculates and evaluates the results. (author)
An intelligent system for real time automatic defect inspection on specular coated surfaces
Li, Jinhua; Parker, Johné M.; Hou, Zhen
2005-07-01
Product visual inspection is still performed manually or semi automatically in most industries from simple ceramic tile grading to complex automotive body panel paint defect and surface quality inspection. Moreover, specular surfaces present additional challenge to conventional vision systems due to specular reflections, which may mask the true location of objects and lead to incorrect measurements. There are some sophisticated visual inspection methods developed in recent years. Unfortunately, most of them are highly computational. Systems built on those methods are either inapplicable or very costly to achieve real time inspection. In this paper, we describe an integrated low-cost intelligent system developed to automatically capture, extract, and segment defects on specular surfaces with uniform color coatings. The system inspects and locates regular surface defects with lateral dimensions as small as a millimeter. The proposed system is implemented on a group of smart cameras using its on-board processing ability to achieve real time inspection. The experimental results on real test panels demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of proposed system.
Inspection of surface defects for cladding tube with laser
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Senoo, Shigeo; Igarashi, Miyuki; Satoh, Masakazu; Miura, Makoto
1978-01-01
This paper presents the results of experiment on mechanizing the visual inspection of surface defects of cladding tubes and improving the reliability of surface defect inspection. Laser spot inspection method was adopted for this purpose. Since laser speckle pattern includes many informations about surface aspects, the method can be utilized as an effective means for detection or classification of the surface defects. Laser beam is focussed on cladding tube surfaces, and the reflected laser beam forms typical stellar speckle patterns on a screen. Sample cladding tubes are driven in longitudinal direction, and a photo-detector is placed at a position where secondary reflection will fall on the detector. Reflected laser beam from defect-free surfaces shows uniform distribution on the detector. When the incident focussed laser beam is directed to defects, the intensity of the reflected light is reduced. In the second method, laser beam is scanned by a rotating cube mirror. As the results of experiment, the typical patterns caused by defects were observed. It is clear that reflection patterns change with the kinds of defects. The sensitivity of defect detection decreases with the increase in laser beam diameter. Surface defect detection by intensity change was also tested. (Kato, T.)
Automatic X-ray inspection for the HTR-PM spherical fuel elements
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Yi, DU, E-mail: duyi11@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University, Energy Science Building A309, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China); Xiangang, WANG, E-mail: wangxiangang@tsinghua.edu.cn [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University, Energy Science Building A309, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China); Xincheng, XIANG, E-mail: inetxxc@tsinghua.edu.cn [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University, Energy Science Building, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China); Bing, LIU, E-mail: bingliu@tsinghua.edu.cn [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University, Energy Science Building, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China)
2014-12-15
Highlights: • An automatic X-ray inspection method is established to characterize HTR pebbles. • The method provides physical characterization and the inner structure of pebbles. • The method can be conducted non-destructively, quickly and automatically. • Sample pebbles were measured with this AXI method for validation. • The method shows the potential to be applied in situ. - Abstract: Inefficient quality assessment and control (QA and C) of spherical fuel elements for high temperature reactor-pebblebed modules (HTR-PM) has been a long-term problem, since conventional methods are labor intensive and cannot reveal the inside information nondestructively. Herein, we proposed a nondestructive, automated X-ray inspection (AXI) method to characterize spherical fuel elements including their inner structures based on X-ray digital radiography (DR). Briefly, DR images at different angles are first obtained and then the chosen important parameters such as spherical diameters, geometric and mass centers, can be automatically extracted and calculated via image processing techniques. Via evaluating sample spherical fuel elements, we proved that this AXI method can be conducted non-destructively, quickly and automatically. This method not only provides accurate physical characterization of spherical fuel elements but also reveals their inner structure with good resolution, showing great potentials to facilitate fast QA and C in HTM-PM spherical fuel element development and production.
Automatic X-ray inspection for the HTR-PM spherical fuel elements
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yi, DU; Xiangang, WANG; Xincheng, XIANG; Bing, LIU
2014-01-01
Highlights: • An automatic X-ray inspection method is established to characterize HTR pebbles. • The method provides physical characterization and the inner structure of pebbles. • The method can be conducted non-destructively, quickly and automatically. • Sample pebbles were measured with this AXI method for validation. • The method shows the potential to be applied in situ. - Abstract: Inefficient quality assessment and control (QA and C) of spherical fuel elements for high temperature reactor-pebblebed modules (HTR-PM) has been a long-term problem, since conventional methods are labor intensive and cannot reveal the inside information nondestructively. Herein, we proposed a nondestructive, automated X-ray inspection (AXI) method to characterize spherical fuel elements including their inner structures based on X-ray digital radiography (DR). Briefly, DR images at different angles are first obtained and then the chosen important parameters such as spherical diameters, geometric and mass centers, can be automatically extracted and calculated via image processing techniques. Via evaluating sample spherical fuel elements, we proved that this AXI method can be conducted non-destructively, quickly and automatically. This method not only provides accurate physical characterization of spherical fuel elements but also reveals their inner structure with good resolution, showing great potentials to facilitate fast QA and C in HTM-PM spherical fuel element development and production
A Laser-based Ultrasonic Inspection System to Detect Micro Fatigue Cracks
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Park, Seung Kyu; Baik, Sung Hoon; Park, Moon Cheol; Lim, Chang Hwan; Cha, Hyung Ki
2005-01-01
Laser-based ultrasonic techniques have been established as a viable non-contact alternative to piezoelectric transducers for generating and receiving ultrasound. Laser-based ultrasonic inspection system provides a number of advantages over the conventional generation by piezoelectric transducers, especially a non-contact generation and detection of ultrasonic waves, high spatial scanning resolution, controllable narrow-band and wide-band spectrum, absolute measurements of the moving distance, use of fiber optics, and an ability to operate on curved and rough surfaces and at hard-to-access locations like a nuclear power plant. Ochiai and Miura used the laser-based ultrasound to detect micro fatigue cracks for the inspection of a material degradation in nuclear power plants. This widely applicable laser-based ultrasonic inspection system is comparatively expensive and provides low signal-to-noise ratio to measure ultrasound by using the laser interferometer. Many studies have been carried out to improve the measuring efficiency of the laser interferometer. One of the widely used laser interferometer types to measure the ultrasound is the Confocal Fabry-Perot Interferometer(CFPI). The measurement gain of the CFPI is slightly and continually varied according to the small change of the cavity length and the fluctuations of the measuring laser beam frequency with time. If we continually adjust the voltage of a PZT which is fixed to one of the interferometer mirrors, the optimum working point of the CFPI can be fixed. Though a static stabilizer can fix the gain of the CFPI where the CW laser beam is targeted at one position, it can not be used when the CW laser beam is scanned like a scanning laser source(SLS) technique. A dynamic stabilizer can be used for the scanning ultrasonic inspection system. A robust dynamic stabilizer is needed for an application to the industrial inspection fields. Kromine showed that the SLS technique is effective to detect small fatigue cracks
Using a laser scanning camera for reactor inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Armour, I.A.; Adrain, R.S.; Klewe, R.C.
1984-01-01
Inspection of nuclear reactors is normally carried out using TV or film cameras. There are, however, several areas where these cameras show considerable shortcomings. To overcome these difficulties, laser scanning cameras have been developed. This type of camera can be used for general visual inspection as well as the provision of high resolution video images with high ratio on and off-axis zoom capability. In this paper, we outline the construction and operation of a laser scanning camera and give examples of how it has been used in various power stations, and indicate future potential developments. (author)
Moench, Ingo; Peter, Laszlo; Priem, Roland; Sturm, Volker; Noll, Reinhard
1999-09-01
In plants of the chemical, nuclear and off-shore industry, application specific high-alloyed steels are used for pipe fittings. Mixing of different steel grades can lead to corrosion with severe consequential damages. Growing quality requirements and environmental responsibilities demand a 100% material control in the production of the pipe fittings. Therefore, LIFT, an automatic inspection machine, was developed to insure against any mix of material grades. LIFT is able to identify more than 30 different steel grades. The inspection method is based on Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometry (LIBS). An expert system, which can be easily trained and recalibrated, was developed for the data evaluation. The result of the material inspection is transferred to an external handling system via a PLC interface. The duration of the inspection process is 2 seconds. The graphical user interface was developed with respect to the requirements of an unskilled operator. The software is based on a realtime operating system and provides a safe and reliable operation. An interface for the remote maintenance by modem enables a fast operational support. Logged data are retrieved and evaluated. This is the basis for an adaptive improvement of the configuration of LIFT with respect to changing requirements in the production line. Within the first six months of routine operation, about 50000 pipe fittings were inspected.
Inspection technology for high pressure pipes
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kim, Jae H.; Lee, Jae C.; Eum, Heung S.; Choi, Yu R.; Moon, Soon S.; Jang, Jong H
2000-02-01
Various kinds of defects are likely to be occurred in the welds of high pressure pipes in nuclear power plants. Considering the recent accident of Zuruga nuclear power plant in Japan, reasonable policy is strongly requested for the high pressure pipe integrity. In this study, we developed the technologies to inspect pipe welds automatically. After development of scanning robot prototype in the first research year, we developed and implemented the algorithm of automatic tracking of the scanning robot along the weld line of the pipes. We use laser slit beam on weld area and capture the image using digital camera. Through processing of the captures image, we finally determine the weld line automatically. In addition, we investigated a new technology on micro systems for developing micro scanning robotic inspection of the pipe welds. The technology developed in this study is being transferred to the industry. (author)
Applications Of A Low Cost System For Industrial Automatic Inspection
Krey, C.; Ayache, A.; Bruel, A.
1987-05-01
In industrial environment, some repetitive tasks wich do not need a high degree of understanding, can be solved automatically owing to Vision. Among the systems available on the market, most of them are rather expensive with various capabilities. The described system is a modular system, built with some standard circuit boards. One of the advantages of this system is that its architecture can be redefined for each application, by assembling judiciously the standard modules. The vision system has been used successfully to sort fruits according to their colour and diameter. The system can sort 8 fruits per second on each sorting line and manage simultaneously up to 16 lines. An application of sheep skin cutting has been implemented too. After chemical and mechanical treatments, the skins present many defaults all around their contour, that must be cut off. A movable camera follows and inspects the contour ; the vision system determines where the cutting device must cut the skin. A third application has been implemented ; it concerns automatic recording and reproduction of logotypes. A moving camera driven by the system picks up the points, of the logotype contours. Before reproduction, programs can modify the logotypes shape, change the scale, and so on. For every application, the system uses the world smallest CCD camera developped in the laboratory. The small dimensions of the vision system and its low cost are major advantages for a wide use in industrial automatic inspection.
Development and application of an automatic system for measuring the laser camera
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Feng Shuli; Peng Mingchen; Li Kuncheng
2004-01-01
Objective: To provide an automatic system for measuring imaging quality of laser camera, and to make an automatic measurement and analysis system. Methods: On the special imaging workstation (SGI 540), the procedure was written by using Matlab language. An automatic measurement and analysis system of imaging quality for laser camera was developed and made according to the imaging quality measurement standard of laser camera of International Engineer Commission (IEC). The measurement system used the theories of digital signal processing, and was based on the characteristics of digital images, as well as put the automatic measurement and analysis of laser camera into practice by the affiliated sample pictures of the laser camera. Results: All the parameters of imaging quality of laser camera, including H-D and MTF curve, low and middle and high resolution of optical density, all kinds of geometry distort, maximum and minimum density, as well as the dynamic range of gray scale, could be measured by this system. The system was applied for measuring the laser cameras in 20 hospitals in Beijing. The measuring results showed that the system could provide objective and quantitative data, and could accurately evaluate the imaging quality of laser camera, as well as correct the results made by manual measurement based on the affiliated sample pictures of the laser camera. Conclusion: The automatic measuring system of laser camera is an effective and objective tool for testing the quality of the laser camera, and the system makes a foundation for the future research
Automatic visual inspection of metallic surfaces
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Pernkopf, F.
2002-02-01
This thesis is concerned with the objectives of automatic visual inspection of metallic surfaces and involves two major parts. The first part covers three different imaging techniques, gray-level intensity imaging, light sectioning, and photometric stereo. These imaging principles more or less strongly rely on the reflection property of the surface. Therefore, a reflection model for machine vision is introduced. The second part concentrates on the analysis of the gathered data in regard to the detection and classification of surface defects. Additionally, the evaluation of genetic algorithms with a novel encoding scheme and a large number of published sequential feature selection algorithms for selection of the subset of features achieving the best classification rate is included. The genetic algorithms and the adaptive sequential forward floating selection method achieve similar results in performance and computational efficiency. Finally, the results of feature selection and classification of 540 flaw images are presented, whereby different classification approaches such as parametric classifiers, the k-nearest-neighbor decision rule, the naive Bayes classifier, and the tree augmented naive Bayes classifier were compared. For learning the structure of the augmented naive Bayes network a new approach similar to the sequential floating algorithm is presented which achieves a higher classification accuracy than hill climbing search. Basically, the introduced techniques are applied to two fundamentally different applications, whereby the experimental results of both, inspection of high-precision surfaces such as bearing rolls and flaw detection on partially scale-covered steel blocks, are presented. For the inspection of bearing rolls, the surface reflectance properties are modeled and verified with optical experiments. The aim is to determine the optical arrangement for illumination and observation, where the contrast between errors and intact surface is maximized
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bo-Lin Jian
2017-06-01
Full Text Available Due to the direct influence of night vision equipment availability on the safety of night-time aerial reconnaissance, maintenance needs to be carried out regularly. Unfortunately, some defects are not easy to observe or are not even detectable by human eyes. As a consequence, this study proposed a novel automatic defect detection system for aviator’s night vision imaging systems AN/AVS-6(V1 and AN/AVS-6(V2. An auto-focusing process consisting of a sharpness calculation and a gradient-based variable step search method is applied to achieve an automatic detection system for honeycomb defects. This work also developed a test platform for sharpness measurement. It demonstrates that the honeycomb defects can be precisely recognized and the number of the defects can also be determined automatically during the inspection. Most importantly, the proposed approach significantly reduces the time consumption, as well as human assessment error during the night vision goggle inspection procedures.
Automatic inspection of textured surfaces by support vector machines
Jahanbin, Sina; Bovik, Alan C.; Pérez, Eduardo; Nair, Dinesh
2009-08-01
Automatic inspection of manufactured products with natural looking textures is a challenging task. Products such as tiles, textile, leather, and lumber project image textures that cannot be modeled as periodic or otherwise regular; therefore, a stochastic modeling of local intensity distribution is required. An inspection system to replace human inspectors should be flexible in detecting flaws such as scratches, cracks, and stains occurring in various shapes and sizes that have never been seen before. A computer vision algorithm is proposed in this paper that extracts local statistical features from grey-level texture images decomposed with wavelet frames into subbands of various orientations and scales. The local features extracted are second order statistics derived from grey-level co-occurrence matrices. Subsequently, a support vector machine (SVM) classifier is trained to learn a general description of normal texture from defect-free samples. This algorithm is implemented in LabVIEW and is capable of processing natural texture images in real-time.
Qi, Li; Wang, Shun; Zhang, Yixin; Sun, Yingying; Zhang, Xuping
2015-11-01
The quality inspection process is usually carried out after first processing of the raw materials such as cutting and milling. This is because the parts of the materials to be used are unidentified until they have been trimmed. If the quality of the material is assessed before the laser process, then the energy and efforts wasted on defected materials can be saved. We proposed a new production scheme that can achieve quantitative quality inspection prior to primitive laser cutting by means of three-dimensional (3-D) vision measurement. First, the 3-D model of the object is reconstructed by the stereo cameras, from which the spatial cutting path is derived. Second, collaborating with another rear camera, the 3-D cutting path is reprojected to both the frontal and rear views of the object and thus generates the regions-of-interest (ROIs) for surface defect analysis. An accurate visual guided laser process and reprojection-based ROI segmentation are enabled by a global-optimization-based trinocular calibration method. The prototype system was built and tested with the processing of raw duck feathers for high-quality badminton shuttle manufacture. Incorporating with a two-dimensional wavelet-decomposition-based defect analysis algorithm, both the geometrical and appearance features of the raw feathers are quantified before they are cut into small patches, which result in fully automatic feather cutting and sorting.
Nondestructive web thickness measurement of micro-drills with an integrated laser inspection system
Chuang, Shui-Fa; Chen, Yen-Chung; Chang, Wen-Tung; Lin, Ching-Chih; Tarng, Yeong-Shin
2010-09-01
Nowadays, the electric and semiconductor industries use numerous micro-drills to machine micro-holes in printed circuit boards. The measurement of web thickness of micro-drills, a key parameter of micro-drill geometry influencing drill rigidity and chip-removal ability, is quite important to ensure quality control. Traditionally, inefficiently destructive measuring method is adopted by inspectors. To improve quality and efficiency of the web thickness measuring tasks, a nondestructive measuring method is required. In this paper, based on the laser micro-gauge (LMG) and laser confocal displacement meter (LCDM) techniques, a nondestructive measuring principle of web thickness of micro-drills is introduced. An integrated laser inspection system, mainly consisting of a LMG, a LCDM and a two-axis-driven micro-drill fixture device, was developed. Experiments meant to inspect web thickness of micro-drill samples with a nominal diameter of 0.25 mm were conducted to test the feasibility of the developed laser inspection system. The experimental results showed that the web thickness measurement could achieve an estimated repeatability of ± 1.6 μm and a worst repeatability of ± 7.5 μm. The developed laser inspection system, combined with the nondestructive measuring principle, was able to undertake the web thickness measuring tasks for certain micro-drills.
Automatic visual inspection of a missing split pin in the China railway high-speed.
Lu, Shengfang; Liu, Zhen
2016-10-20
The split pin (SP) on the caliper brake is a vital component of the brake system of a bogie traveling along the China railway high-speed (CRH), and the absence of the SP could cause serious train accidents. A new automatic visual inspection method is proposed for the quick and accurate detection of SP faults of the CRH. The proposed approach is based on the histogram of gradient (HOG) combined with the complete local binary pattern (CLBP). First, a fast pyramid template matching technique is presented for localizing the region of interest to reduce the searching scope. Under the multiresolution pyramid model for target localization, a coarse-to-fine strategy is employed to ensure that the recognizing speed of the SP for the entire image is increased significantly. Second, a hierarchical framework is adopted at the localizing and inspecting stages of the SP to automatically implement the inspection tasks. To increase the robustness to the outside complex illumination, the HOG feature for localizing the target and the CLBP feature for examining the state of the SP (i.e., missing or not-missing) are extracted in the Sobel gradient domain. The localization and recognition stages are both fulfilled through the use of their respective intersection kernel support vector machine classifiers and corresponding features. In conclusion, experimental results indicate that the inspection system achieves a high accuracy rate of more than 99.0% and a real-time speed, thus proving that the proposed method is effective for the fault inspection of the SP and can satisfy the requirements of CRH's actual application.
Research on automatic inspection technique of real-time radiography for turbine-blade
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zhou, Z.G.; Zhao, S.; An, Z.G.
2004-01-01
To inspect turbine blade automatically, with a real-time radiographic system based on X-ray flat panel detector, computerized defect extraction technique is studied on the basis of characteristics of turbine blade's digital radiographic images. At first, in the light of a variety of gray-level in a turbine blade's digital radiographic image, it is divided into six subareas. An adaptive median filter is used to smooth defects in each subarea. Then, the filtrated image is subtracted from the raw image and a difference image with flat background and outstanding defects is obtained. After that, thresholding is applied to the difference image and defects in the turbine blade become obvious. Later on, a morphological opening is used to realize noise reduction. In order to ensure the accuracy of defects, a region growing method is adopted to reconstruct the defects. Finally, the feature data of defects are extracted. The comparison between computerized feature extraction results and human interpretation results indicates that the method mentioned above is effective and efficient, which will lay a good foundation for automatic inspection of turbine-blade with X-ray. (author)
Yang, Lei; Gong, Jie; Ume, I. Charles
2014-02-01
In modern surface mount packaging technologies, such as flip chips, chip scale packages, and ball grid arrays(BGA), chips are attached to the substrates/printed wiring board (PWB) using solder bump interconnections. The quality of solder bumps between the chips and the substrate/board is difficult to inspect. Laser ultrasonic-interferometric technique was proved to be a promising approach for solder bump inspection because of its noncontact and nondestructive characteristics. Different indicators extracted from received signals have been used to predict the potential defects, such as correlation coefficient, error ratio, frequency shifting, etc. However, the fundamental understanding of the chip behavior under laser ultrasonic inspection is still missing. Specifically, it is not sure whether the laser interferometer detected out-of-plane displacements were due to wave propagation or structural vibration when the chip was excited by pulsed laser. Plus, it is found that the received signals are chip dependent. Both challenges impede the interpretation of acquired signals. In this paper, a C-scan method was proposed to study the underlying phenomenon during laser ultrasonic inspection. The full chip was inspected. The response of the chip under laser excitation was visualized in a movie resulted from acquired signals. Specifically, a BGA chip was investigated to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method. By characterizing signals using discrete wavelet transform(DWT), both ultrasonic wave propagation and vibration were observed. Separation of them was successfully achieved using ideal band-pass filter and visualized in resultant movies, too. The observed ultrasonic waves were characterized and their respective speeds were measured by applying 2-D FFT. The C-scan method, combined with different digital signal processing techniques, was proved to be an very effective methodology to learn the behavior of chips under laser excitation. This general procedure can be
Lingbloom, Mike; Plaia, Jim; Newman, John
2006-01-01
Laser Shearography is a viable inspection method for detection of de-bonds and voids within the external TPS (thermal protection system) on to the Space Shuttle RSRM (reusable solid rocket motors). Cork samples with thicknesses up to 1 inch were tested at the LTI (Laser Technology Incorporated) laboratory using vacuum-applied stress in a vacuum chamber. The testing proved that the technology could detect cork to steel un-bonds using vacuum stress techniques in the laboratory environment. The next logical step was to inspect the TPS on a RSRM. Although detailed post flight inspection has confirmed that ATK Thiokol's cork bonding technique provides a reliable cork to case bond, due to the Space Shuttle Columbia incident there is a great interest in verifying bond-lines on the external TPS. This interest provided and opportunity to inspect a RSRM motor with Laser Shearography. This paper will describe the laboratory testing and RSRM testing that has been performed to date. Descriptions of the test equipment setup and techniques for data collection and detailed results will be given. The data from the test show that Laser Shearography is an effective technology and readily adaptable to inspect a RSRM.
Laser plasma X-ray for non-destructive inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yagi, T.; Kusama, H.
1995-01-01
External electric field is applied to the laser produced plasma, and its found that plasma shape in soft X-ray region is changed due to the penetrating electric field. The plasma emits strong hard X-ray, which can be used as a compact light source for non-destructive inspection. (author)
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S. M. Avakov
2007-01-01
Full Text Available Following the concept of defect-free manufacturing of master masks of IC on photo-masks, two Belarusian sets of optomechanical equipment for 0,3 5 p and 90 nanometers are presented in the paper. Each of the sets comprises: • Multi-channel laser pattern generator; • Automatic mask defect inspection system; • Laser-based mask defect repair system.The paper contains description of automatic mask defect inspection process during photo-mask manufacturing and respective basic technological operations of the processes.Advantages of a complex approach to the development of a set of opto-mechanical equipment for defect-free manufacturing of photo-masks have been analyzed in the paper.
Automatic inspection of surface defects in die castings after machining
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S. J. Świłło
2011-07-01
Full Text Available A new camera based machine vision system for the automatic inspection of surface defects in aluminum die casting was developed by the authors. The problem of surface defects in aluminum die casting is widespread throughout the foundry industry and their detection is of paramount importance in maintaining product quality. The casting surfaces are the most highly loaded regions of materials and components. Mechanical and thermal loads as well as corrosion or irradiation attacks are directed primarily at the surface of the castings. Depending on part design and processing techniques, castings may develop surface discontinuities such as cracks or tears, inclusions due to chemical reactions or foreign material in the molten metal, and pores that greatly influence the material ability to withstand these loads. Surface defects may act as a stress concentrator initiating a fracture point. If a pressure is applied in this area, the casting can fracture. The human visual system is well adapted to perform in areas of variety and change; the visual inspection processes, on the other hand, require observing the same type of image repeatedly to detect anomalies. Slow, expensive, erratic inspection usually is the result. Computer based visual inspection provides a viable alternative to human inspectors. Developed by authors machine vision system uses an image processing algorithm based on modified Laplacian of Gaussian edge detection method to detect defects with different sizes and shapes. The defect inspection algorithm consists of three parameters. One is a parameter of defects sensitivity, the second parameter is a threshold level and the third parameter is to identify the detected defects size and shape. The machine vision system has been successfully tested for the different types of defects on the surface of castings.
Automatic ultrasonic testing and the LOFT in-service inspection program
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hunter, J.A.
1980-01-01
An automatic ultrasonic testing system has been developed which significantly improves the flaw indication detection and characterization capability over the capability of conventional volumetric examination techniques. The system utilizes an accurately located ultrasonic sensor to generate the examination data. A small computer performs and integrates control and data input/output functions. Computer software has been developed to provide a rigorous method for data analysis and ultrasonic image interpretation. The system has been used as part of an in-service inspection program to examine welds in thich austenitic stainless steel pipes in a small experimental nuclear reactor
Computer vision for automatic inspection of agricultural produce
Molto, Enrique; Blasco, Jose; Benlloch, Jose V.
1999-01-01
Fruit and vegetables suffer different manipulations from the field to the final consumer. These are basically oriented towards the cleaning and selection of the product in homogeneous categories. For this reason, several research projects, aimed at fast, adequate produce sorting and quality control are currently under development around the world. Moreover, it is possible to find manual and semi- automatic commercial system capable of reasonably performing these tasks.However, in many cases, their accuracy is incompatible with current European market demands, which are constantly increasing. IVIA, the Valencian Research Institute of Agriculture, located in Spain, has been involved in several European projects related with machine vision for real-time inspection of various agricultural produces. This paper will focus on the work related with two products that have different requirements: fruit and olives. In the case of fruit, the Institute has developed a vision system capable of providing assessment of the external quality of single fruit to a robot that also receives information from other senors. The system use four different views of each fruit and has been tested on peaches, apples and citrus. Processing time of each image is under 500 ms using a conventional PC. The system provides information about primary and secondary color, blemishes and their extension, and stem presence and position, which allows further automatic orientation of the fruit in the final box using a robotic manipulator. Work carried out in olives was devoted to fast sorting of olives for consumption at table. A prototype has been developed to demonstrate the feasibility of a machine vision system capable of automatically sorting 2500 kg/h olives using low-cost conventional hardware.
Automatic welding detection by an intelligent tool pipe inspection
Arizmendi, C. J.; Garcia, W. L.; Quintero, M. A.
2015-07-01
This work provide a model based on machine learning techniques in welds recognition, based on signals obtained through in-line inspection tool called “smart pig” in Oil and Gas pipelines. The model uses a signal noise reduction phase by means of pre-processing algorithms and attribute-selection techniques. The noise reduction techniques were selected after a literature review and testing with survey data. Subsequently, the model was trained using recognition and classification algorithms, specifically artificial neural networks and support vector machines. Finally, the trained model was validated with different data sets and the performance was measured with cross validation and ROC analysis. The results show that is possible to identify welding automatically with an efficiency between 90 and 98 percent.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Curiel, M.; Palomo, M. J.; Rodriguez, M.; Arnaldos, A.
2010-10-01
During this presentation we are going to introduce the results of Cofrentes nuclear power plant automation of the detection system LPRM (Local Power Range Monitor) inspection procedure. An LPRM test system has been developed and it consists in a software application and data acquisition hardware that performs automatically the complete detection system process: 1) Refuelling, storage and operation inspection: ramp voltage generation, measured voltage plateaux evaluation, qualification report emission. 2) Historical analysis to scan burn evolution. The inspections differentiations are developed by the different specifications that it has to fulfil: 1) Operation inspection: it is made to check the fission bolt wearing, the detection system functioning and to analyse malfunctioning. From technical specifications and curves analyses it can be determined each LPRM substitution. 2) Storage inspection: it is made to check the correct functioning and isolation losses before being installed in the core during refueling. 3) Refueling inspection: it is checked that storage LPRM installation is correct and that they are ready for new fuel cycle. The software application LPRM test has been developed by National Instruments LabVIEWTM, and it performs the following actions: 1) Protocol IEEE-488 (GPI B) control of the source Keithley 237. This source generates the ramp voltage and measure voltage. 2) Information acquisition of storage, process and source, identifying LPRM and realization conditions of the same. 3) Data analysis and conditions report. 4) Historical comparative analysis. (Author)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Curiel, M. [Logistica y Acondicionamientos Industriales SAU, Sorolla Center, local 10, Av. de las Cortes Valencianas No. 58, 46015 Valencia (Spain); Palomo, M. J. [ISIRYM, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, Valencia (Spain); Rodriguez, M. [Iberdrola Generacion S. A., Central Nuclear Cofrentes, Carretera Almansa Requena s/n, 04662 Cofrentes, Valencia (Spain); Arnaldos, A., E-mail: m.curiel@lainsa.co [TITANIA Servicios Tecnologicos SL, Sorollo Center, local 10, Av. de las Cortes Valencianas No. 58, 46015 Valencia (Spain)
2010-10-15
During this presentation we are going to introduce the results of Cofrentes nuclear power plant automation of the detection system LPRM (Local Power Range Monitor) inspection procedure. An LPRM test system has been developed and it consists in a software application and data acquisition hardware that performs automatically the complete detection system process: 1) Refuelling, storage and operation inspection: ramp voltage generation, measured voltage plateaux evaluation, qualification report emission. 2) Historical analysis to scan burn evolution. The inspections differentiations are developed by the different specifications that it has to fulfil: 1) Operation inspection: it is made to check the fission bolt wearing, the detection system functioning and to analyse malfunctioning. From technical specifications and curves analyses it can be determined each LPRM substitution. 2) Storage inspection: it is made to check the correct functioning and isolation losses before being installed in the core during refueling. 3) Refueling inspection: it is checked that storage LPRM installation is correct and that they are ready for new fuel cycle. The software application LPRM test has been developed by National Instruments LabVIEWTM, and it performs the following actions: 1) Protocol IEEE-488 (GPI B) control of the source Keithley 237. This source generates the ramp voltage and measure voltage. 2) Information acquisition of storage, process and source, identifying LPRM and realization conditions of the same. 3) Data analysis and conditions report. 4) Historical comparative analysis. (Author)
Automatic alignment of double optical paths in excimer laser amplifier
Wang, Dahui; Zhao, Xueqing; Hua, Hengqi; Zhang, Yongsheng; Hu, Yun; Yi, Aiping; Zhao, Jun
2013-05-01
A kind of beam automatic alignment method used for double paths amplification in the electron pumped excimer laser system is demonstrated. In this way, the beams from the amplifiers can be transferred along the designated direction and accordingly irradiate on the target with high stabilization and accuracy. However, owing to nonexistence of natural alignment references in excimer laser amplifiers, two cross-hairs structure is used to align the beams. Here, one crosshair put into the input beam is regarded as the near-field reference while the other put into output beam is regarded as the far-field reference. The two cross-hairs are transmitted onto Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) by image-relaying structures separately. The errors between intersection points of two cross-talk images and centroid coordinates of actual beam are recorded automatically and sent to closed loop feedback control mechanism. Negative feedback keeps running until preset accuracy is reached. On the basis of above-mentioned design, the alignment optical path is built and the software is compiled, whereafter the experiment of double paths automatic alignment in electron pumped excimer laser amplifier is carried through. Meanwhile, the related influencing factors and the alignment precision are analyzed. Experimental results indicate that the alignment system can achieve the aiming direction of automatic aligning beams in short time. The analysis shows that the accuracy of alignment system is 0.63μrad and the beam maximum restoration error is 13.75μm. Furthermore, the bigger distance between the two cross-hairs, the higher precision of the system is. Therefore, the automatic alignment system has been used in angular multiplexing excimer Main Oscillation Power Amplification (MOPA) system and can satisfy the requirement of beam alignment precision on the whole.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Palomo, M., E-mail: mpalomo@iqn.upv.es [Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica y Nuclear, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (Spain); Urrea, M., E-mail: matias.urrea@iberdrola.es [C.N.Cofrentes - Iberdrola Generacion S.A., Valencia (Spain); Curiel, M., E-mail: m.curiel@lainsa.com [LAINSA, Grupo Dominguis, Valencia (Brazil); Arnaldos, A., E-mail: a.arnaldos@titaniast.com [TITANIA Servicios Teconologicos, Valencia (Spain)
2011-07-01
During this presentation we are going to introduce the results of Cofrentes nuclear power plant automation of the detection system LPRM (Local Power Range Monitor) inspection procedure. An LPRM's test system has been developed and it consists in a software application and data acquisition hardware that performs automatically the complete detection system process: refueling, storage and operation inspection: Ramp voltage generation, measured voltage Plateaux evaluation, qualification report emission; historical analysis to scan burn evolution. The inspections differentiations are developed by the different specifications that it has to fulfil: operation inspection: it is made to check the fission bolt wearing, the detection system functioning and to analyse malfunctioning. From technical specifications and curves analyses it can be determined each LPRM's substitution. Storage inspection: it is made to check the correct functioning and isolation losses before being installed in the core during refueling. Refueling inspection: it is checked that storage LPRM's installation is correct and that they are ready for new fuel cycle. The software application LPRM's Test has been developed by National Instruments LabVIEW, and it performs the following actions: Protocol IEEE-488 (GPIB) control of the source KEITHLEY 237. This source generates the ramp voltage and measure voltage; information acquisition of storage, process and source, identifying LPRM and realization conditions of the same; data analysis and conditions report, historical comparative analysis. (author)
A Ship Cargo Hold Inspection Approach Using Laser Vision Systems
SHEN Yang; ZHAO Ning; LIU Haiwei; MI Chao
2013-01-01
Our paper represents a vision system based on the laser measurement system (LMS) for bulk ship inspection. The LMS scanner with 2-axis servo system is installed on the ship loader to build the shape of the ship. Then, a group of real-time image processing algorithms are implemented to compute the shape of the cargo hold, the inclination angle of the ship and the relative position between the ship loader and the cargo hold. Based on those computed inspection data of the ship, the ship loader c...
Automatic Locking of Laser Frequency to an Absorption Peak
Koch, Grady J.
2006-01-01
An electronic system adjusts the frequency of a tunable laser, eventually locking the frequency to a peak in the optical absorption spectrum of a gas (or of a Fabry-Perot cavity that has an absorption peak like that of a gas). This system was developed to enable precise locking of the frequency of a laser used in differential absorption LIDAR measurements of trace atmospheric gases. This system also has great commercial potential as a prototype of means for precise control of frequencies of lasers in future dense wavelength-division-multiplexing optical communications systems. The operation of this system is completely automatic: Unlike in the operation of some prior laser-frequency-locking systems, there is ordinarily no need for a human operator to adjust the frequency manually to an initial value close enough to the peak to enable automatic locking to take over. Instead, this system also automatically performs the initial adjustment. The system (see Figure 1) is based on a concept of (1) initially modulating the laser frequency to sweep it through a spectral range that includes the desired absorption peak, (2) determining the derivative of the absorption peak with respect to the laser frequency for use as an error signal, (3) identifying the desired frequency [at the very top (which is also the middle) of the peak] as the frequency where the derivative goes to zero, and (4) thereafter keeping the frequency within a locking range and adjusting the frequency as needed to keep the derivative (the error signal) as close as possible to zero. More specifically, the system utilizes the fact that in addition to a zero crossing at the top of the absorption peak, the error signal also closely approximates a straight line in the vicinity of the zero crossing (see Figure 2). This vicinity is the locking range because the linearity of the error signal in this range makes it useful as a source of feedback for a proportional + integral + derivative control scheme that
Image-guided automatic triggering of a fractional CO2 laser in aesthetic procedures.
Wilczyński, Sławomir; Koprowski, Robert; Wiernek, Barbara K; Błońska-Fajfrowska, Barbara
2016-09-01
Laser procedures in dermatology and aesthetic medicine are associated with the need for manual laser triggering. This leads to pulse overlapping and side effects. Automatic laser triggering based on image analysis can provide a secure fit to each successive doses of radiation. A fractional CO2 laser was used in the study. 500 images of the human skin of healthy subjects were acquired. Automatic triggering was initiated by an application together with a camera which tracks and analyses the skin in visible light. The tracking algorithm uses the methods of image analysis to overlap images. After locating the characteristic points in analysed adjacent areas, the correspondence of graphs is found. The point coordinates derived from the images are the vertices of graphs with respect to which isomorphism is sought. When the correspondence of graphs is found, it is possible to overlap the neighbouring parts of the image. The proposed method of laser triggering owing to the automatic image fitting method allows for 100% repeatability. To meet this requirement, there must be at least 13 graph vertices obtained from the image. For this number of vertices, the time of analysis of a single image is less than 0.5s. The proposed method, applied in practice, may help reduce the number of side effects during dermatological laser procedures resulting from laser pulse overlapping. In addition, it reduces treatment time and enables to propose new techniques of treatment through controlled, precise laser pulse overlapping. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
An automatic mode-locked system for passively mode-locked fiber laser
Li, Sha; Xu, Jun; Chen, Guoliang; Mei, Li; Yi, Bo
2013-12-01
This paper designs and implements one kind of automatic mode-locked system. It can adjust a passively mode-locked fiber laser to keep steady mode-locked states automatically. So the unsteadiness of traditional passively mode-locked fiber laser can be avoided. The system transforms optical signals into electrical pulse signals and sends them into MCU after processing. MCU calculates the frequency of the signals and judges the state of the output based on a quick judgment algorithm. A high-speed comparator is used to check the signals and the comparison voltage can be adjusted to improve the measuring accuracy. Then by controlling two polarization controllers at an angle of 45degrees to each other, MCU extrudes the optical fibers to change the polarization until it gets proper mode-locked output. So the system can continuously monitor the output signal and get it back to mode-locked states quickly and automatically. States of the system can be displayed on the LCD and PC. The parameters of the steady mode-locked states can be stored into an EEPROM so that the system will get into mode-locked states immediately next time. Actual experiments showed that, for a 6.238MHz passively mode-locked fiber lasers, the system can get into steady mode-locked states automatically in less than 90s after starting the system. The expected lock time can be reduced to less than 20s after follow up improvements.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
1989-03-01
This paper describes the achievements in fiscal 1985 of developing an automatic sewing system. The automatic fabric inspection detects and marks automatically defects in cloth that may cause quality defects in sewn products. This information is transmitted so that corrective actions can be taken preventively, and the quality is assured. In order to avoid errors in shifts of defect positions caused by expansion and shrinkage of cloth in each process, a meter marking device was fabricated to allow the positional information to be corrected. Improvement was given on the visual defect detection equipment by using optical means. Cloth cutting is performed mainly by the high-speed laser cutting system, where the knife mesh system is adopted for complementary purpose. Discussions were given on operation method plans for the laser cutting machine. The process is executed sequentially on one belt conveyer shaped honeycomb. An ITV camera is moved on a robot to use the image data therefrom for matching the patterns on cloth. An information printing device was given a basic design, and the printing ink was developed. An information transmission format was set as an item common to different devices. The pitch times in each process were calculated to structure a factory automation network. (NEDO)
Development of a Fibre-Phased Array Laser-EMAT Ultrasonic System for Defect Inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Pei, C; Demachi, K; Koyama, K; Uesaka, M; Fukuchi, T; Chen, Z
2014-01-01
In this work, a phased array laser ultrasound system with using fibre optic delivery and a custom-designed focusing objective lens has been developed for enhancing the ultrasound generation. The fibre-phased array method is applied to improve the sensitivity and detecting ability of the laser-EMAT system for defect inspection
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
1985-08-01
Research, development, and evaluation were made on a composite production system applicable to manufacture products of a large number of types in small quantities. In the research and development of a total system, verification works were carried out by studying basic designs, operation of the composite production system, and experiment plant operation. Research and development on cutting and processing technologies included studies on composite cutting mechanisms, general purpose fitting technologies, control systems, and drive systems. In the research and development of laser applied technologies, studies were performed on large output laser oscillators, the control thereof, and laser processing technologies. In the research and development of automatic diagnosis technologies, studies were executed on failure diagnosis, accuracy compensation, automatic inspection, and accuracy diagnostic technologies. In the research and development of design and control technologies, studies were carried out on automatic designing, process designing, and process controlling technologies. In the study of operation of the Tsukuba experiment plant, discussions were given on configuration of the experiment plant, laser processing mechanism, composite assembly mechanism, production inspection mechanism, and system operation. Furthermore, design studies were also carried out on practically usable systems. (NEDO)
3D optical measuring technologies for dimensional inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chugui, Yu V
2005-01-01
The results of the R and D activity of TDI SIE SB RAS in the field of the 3D optical measuring technologies and systems for noncontact 3D optical dimensional inspection applied to atomic and railway industry safety problems are presented. This activity includes investigations of diffraction phenomena on some 3D objects, using the original constructive calculation method, development of hole inspection method on the base of diffractive optical elements. Ensuring the safety of nuclear reactors and running trains as well as their high exploitation reliability takes a noncontact inspection of geometrical parameters of their components. For this tasks we have developed methods and produced the technical vision measuring systems LMM, CONTROL, PROFILE, and technologies for non-contact 3D dimensional inspection of grid spacers and fuel elements for the nuclear reactor VVER-1000 and VVER-440, as well as automatic laser diagnostic system COMPLEX for noncontact inspection of geometrical parameters of running freight car wheel pairs. The performances of these systems and the results of the industrial testing at atomic and railway companies are presented
Micro-focus x-ray inspection of the bearing pad welded by laser for CANDU fuel element
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, W. K.; Kim, S. S.; Lee, J. W.; Yang, M. S.
2001-01-01
To attach the bearing pads on the surface of CANDU fuel element, laser welding technique has been reviewed to replace brazing technology which is complicate process and makes use of the toxic beryllium. In this study, to evaluate the soundness of the weld of the bearing pad of CANDU fuel element, a precise X-ray inspection system was developed using a micro-focus X-ray generator with an image intensifier and a real time camera system. The weld of the bearing pad welded by Nd:YAG laser has been inspected by the developed inspection system. Image processing technique has been applied to reduce random noise and to enhance the contrast of the X-ray image. A few defects on the weld of the bearing pads have been detected by the X-ray inspection process
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lindner, J.P.
1975-01-01
Based on the FRG codes providing guide lines for the Reactor Safety Commission regarding the size and location of flaws to be detected during in-service inspections, investigations were carried out into the possibility of detecting defects in thick-walled reactor pressure vessel components with the aid of ultrasonic inspection systems. A large test rig was used and, in a similar manner to the in-service inspections on a reactor, the tests were carried out with remote-controlled, automatically guided inspection equipment. For this purpose, a test specimen weighing about 10 tons was produced and provided with two weld seams having a large number of artificial defects. Essential parameters for the various reflectors in the test specimen were the size, location, angle and roughness or structure of the reflecting surfaces. As it is known that austenitic cladding has a considerable influence on flaw detection, the tests were undertaken first without cladding and then with cladding. A manipulator was designed for automatic remote-controlled inspection with which the inspection system travels on a meandering route over the area to be inspected. The inspection system employed was of the same type as the one used for baseline tests during external inspections of reactor vessel walls with parallel surfaces. Digital data collection was by a magnetic tape recorder designed to store both the data of the ultrasonic inspection system as well as the allied position data. The data stored on the tape are evaluated with electronic data processing programmes especially developed for this purpose. These programmes allow locally coherent indication patterns to be prepared, thus simplifying the interpretation of the data obtained. The author initially describes the equipment with the aid of which the studies were undertaken. A detailed discussion is then presented on the design of the test specimen and the inspection systems employed. Following this, the results obtained are explained and
Automatic laser beam position control on the Isolde-Rilis experiment
Grancharova, D; Fedosseev, V; Suberlucq, Guy; CERN. Geneva. AB Department
2003-01-01
The On-Line Isotope Mass Separator ISOLDE at CERN is a facility for production of radioactive ion beams by the interaction of proton beams with a thick target. One of the most widely used types of ion source at ISOLDE is a chemically selective laser ion source based on the method of laser ionization of atoms in a hot cavity - RILIS (Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source). The optical set-up of RILIS includes three copper vapour lasers, a set of dye lasers and frequency multiplication crystals giving up to three different beams of tuneable wavelengths. This paper will focus on the transport of the laser beams to the targets at distances of 18 m and 23 m, the development of the acquisition of their position and finally the automatic control of optics for an accurate alignment.
Inspection of additive manufactured parts using laser ultrasonics
Lévesque, D.; Bescond, C.; Lord, M.; Cao, X.; Wanjara, P.; Monchalin, J.-P.
2016-02-01
Additive manufacturing is a novel technology of high importance for global sustainability of resources. As additive manufacturing involves typically layer-by-layer fusion of the feedstock (wire or powder), an important characteristic of the fabricated metallic structural parts, such as those used in aero-engines, is the performance, which is highly related to the presence of defects, such as cracks, lack of fusion or bonding between layers, and porosity. For this purpose, laser ultrasonics is very attractive due to its non-contact nature and is especially suited for the analysis of parts of complex geometries. In addition, the technique is well adapted to online implementation and real-time measurement during the manufacturing process. The inspection can be performed from either the top deposited layer or the underside of the substrate and the defects can be visualized using laser ultrasonics combined with the synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT). In this work, a variety of results obtained off-line on INCONEL® 718 and Ti-6Al-4V coupons that were manufactured using laser powder, laser wire, or electron beam wire deposition are reported and most defects detected were further confirmed by X-ray micro-computed tomography.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Chardon, St.; Voisin, Y.; Gorria, P. [Universite de Bourgogne, Lab. LE2I, 21 - Dijon (France); Vauzelle, Th. [CEA/Valduc, Dept. Fabrications et Technologies Nucleaires, DFTN, 21 - Is-sur-Tille (France)
1999-07-01
Laser weld quality inspection can be assured by the machine qualification (before and during welding), and by on line monitoring of the operation. The similarity of the signals produced by pulsed lasers (machine or interaction) leads us to develop a specific data acquisition and processing software. During a welding operation, laser-material interaction results in a characteristically emission of optical, acoustical and electrical signals. These signals are measured by different kinds of sensors (photodiode, microphone, or an electric probe), then recorded and treated with the quoted software. Signal processing tools utilization in conjunction with classification techniques (stress polytopes), introduce an innovating approach of on line inspection. Discriminant parameters determination (signals/defect correlation) become thus automatic and non subjective. (authors)
Automated inspection of gaps on the free-form shape parts by laser scanning technologies
Zhou, Sen; Xu, Jian; Tao, Lei; An, Lu; Yu, Yan
2018-01-01
In industrial manufacturing processes, the dimensional inspection of the gaps on the free-form shape parts is critical and challenging, and is directly associated with subsequent assembly and terminal product quality. In this paper, a fast measuring method for automated gap inspection based on laser scanning technologies is presented. The proposed measuring method consists of three steps: firstly, the relative position is determined according to the geometric feature of measuring gap, which considers constraints existing in a laser scanning operation. Secondly, in order to acquire a complete gap profile, a fast and effective scanning path is designed. Finally, the range dimension of the gaps on the free-form shape parts including width, depth and flush, correspondingly, is described in a virtual environment. In the future, an appliance machine based on the proposed method will be developed for the on-line dimensional inspection of gaps on the automobile or aerospace production line.
Review of techniques for on-line monitoring and inspection of laser welding
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Shao, J; Yan, Y
2005-01-01
Laser welding has been applied to various industries, in particular, automotive, aerospace and microelectronics. However, traditional off-line testing of the welds is costly and inefficient. Therefore, on-line inspection systems with low cost have being developed to increase productivity and maintain high welding quality. This paper presents the applications of acoustic, optical, visual, thermal and ultrasonic techniques and latest development of laser welding monitoring. The advantages and limitations of these techniques are also discussed
Automatic target alignment of the Helios laser system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Liberman, I.; Viswanathan, V.K.; Klein, M.; Seery, B.D.
1980-01-01
An automatic target-alignment technique for the Helios laser facility is reported and verified experimentally. The desired alignment condition is completely described by an autocollimation test. A computer program examines the autocollimated return pattern from the surrogate target and correctly describes any changes required in mirror orientation to yield optimum targe alignment with either aberrated or misaligned beams. Automated on-line target alignment is thus shown to be feasible
Xie, W.-J.; Zhang, L.; Chen, H.-P.; Zhou, J.; Mao, W.-J.
2018-04-01
The purpose of carrying out national geographic conditions monitoring is to obtain information of surface changes caused by human social and economic activities, so that the geographic information can be used to offer better services for the government, enterprise and public. Land cover data contains detailed geographic conditions information, thus has been listed as one of the important achievements in the national geographic conditions monitoring project. At present, the main issue of the production of the land cover data is about how to improve the classification accuracy. For the land cover data quality inspection and acceptance, classification accuracy is also an important check point. So far, the classification accuracy inspection is mainly based on human-computer interaction or manual inspection in the project, which are time consuming and laborious. By harnessing the automatic high-resolution remote sensing image change detection technology based on the ERDAS IMAGINE platform, this paper carried out the classification accuracy inspection test of land cover data in the project, and presented a corresponding technical route, which includes data pre-processing, change detection, result output and information extraction. The result of the quality inspection test shows the effectiveness of the technical route, which can meet the inspection needs for the two typical errors, that is, missing and incorrect update error, and effectively reduces the work intensity of human-computer interaction inspection for quality inspectors, and also provides a technical reference for the data production and quality control of the land cover data.
Inspection of float glass using a novel retroreflective laser scanning system
Holmes, Jonathan D.
1997-07-01
Since 1988, Image Automation has marketed a float glass inspection system using a novel retro-reflective laser scanning system. The (patented) instrument scans a laser beam by use of a polygon through the glass onto a retro-reflective screen, and collects the retro-reflected light off the polygon, such that a stationary image of the moving spot on the screen is produced. The spot image is then analyzed for optical effects introduced by defects within the glass, which typically distort and attenuate the scanned laser beam, by use of suitable detectors. The inspection system processing provides output of defect size, shape and severity, to the factory network for use in rejection or sorting of glass plates to the end customer. This paper briefly describes the principles of operation, the system architecture, and limitations to sensitivity and measurement repeatability. New instruments based on the retro-reflective scanning method have recently been developed. The principles and implementation are described. They include: (1) Simultaneous detection of defects within the glass and defects in a mirror coating on the glass surface using polarized light. (2) A novel distortion detector for very dark glass. (3) Measurement of optical quality (flatness/refractive homogeneity) of the glass using a position sensitive detector.
Automatic metal parts inspection: Use of thermographic images and anomaly detection algorithms
Benmoussat, M. S.; Guillaume, M.; Caulier, Y.; Spinnler, K.
2013-11-01
A fully-automatic approach based on the use of induction thermography and detection algorithms is proposed to inspect industrial metallic parts containing different surface and sub-surface anomalies such as open cracks, open and closed notches with different sizes and depths. A practical experimental setup is developed, where lock-in and pulsed thermography (LT and PT, respectively) techniques are used to establish a dataset of thermal images for three different mockups. Data cubes are constructed by stacking up the temporal sequence of thermogram images. After the reduction of the data space dimension by means of denoising and dimensionality reduction methods; anomaly detection algorithms are applied on the reduced data cubes. The dimensions of the reduced data spaces are automatically calculated with arbitrary criterion. The results show that, when reduced data cubes are used, the anomaly detection algorithms originally developed for hyperspectral data, the well-known Reed and Xiaoli Yu detector (RX) and the regularized adaptive RX (RARX), give good detection performances for both surface and sub-surface defects in a non-supervised way.
AN AUTOMATIC PROCEDURE FOR COMBINING DIGITAL IMAGES AND LASER SCANNER DATA
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
W. Moussa
2012-07-01
Full Text Available Besides improving both the geometry and the visual quality of the model, the integration of close-range photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning techniques directs at filling gaps in laser scanner point clouds to avoid modeling errors, reconstructing more details in higher resolution and recovering simple structures with less geometric details. Thus, within this paper a flexible approach for the automatic combination of digital images and laser scanner data is presented. Our approach comprises two methods for data fusion. The first method starts by a marker-free registration of digital images based on a point-based environment model (PEM of a scene which stores the 3D laser scanner point clouds associated with intensity and RGB values. The PEM allows the extraction of accurate control information for the direct computation of absolute camera orientations with redundant information by means of accurate space resection methods. In order to use the computed relations between the digital images and the laser scanner data, an extended Helmert (seven-parameter transformation is introduced and its parameters are estimated. Precedent to that, in the second method, the local relative orientation parameters of the camera images are calculated by means of an optimized Structure and Motion (SaM reconstruction method. Then, using the determined transformation parameters results in having absolute oriented images in relation to the laser scanner data. With the resulting absolute orientations we have employed robust dense image reconstruction algorithms to create oriented dense image point clouds, which are automatically combined with the laser scanner data to form a complete detailed representation of a scene. Examples of different data sets are shown and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented procedures.
A Laser Metrology/Viewing System for ITER In-Vessel Inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Spampinato, P.T.; Barry, R.E.; Chesser, J.B.; Menon, M.M.; Dagher, M.A.; Slotwinski, A.
1997-10-01
This paper identifies the requirements for a remotely operated precision laser ranging system for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. The inspection system is used for metrology and viewing, and must be capable of achieving submillimeter accuracy and operation in a reactor vessel that has high gamma radiation, high vacuum, elevated temperature, and magnetic field levels. A coherent, frequency modulated laser radar system is under development to meet these requirements. The metrology/viewing sensor consists of a compact laser-optic module linked through fiberoptics to the laser source and imaging units, located outside the harsh environment. The deployment mechanism is a remotely operated telescopic mast. Gamma irradiation up to 10 7 Gy was conducted on critical sensor components with no significant impact to data transmission, and analysis indicates that critical sensor components can operate in a magnetic field with certain design modifications. Plans for testing key components in a magnetic field are underway
A Computer-Controlled Laser Bore Scanner
Cheng, Charles C.
1980-08-01
This paper describes the design and engineering of a laser scanning system for production applications. The laser scanning techniques, the timing control, the logic design of the pattern recognition subsystem, the digital computer servo control for the loading and un-loading of parts, and the laser probe rotation and its synchronization will be discussed. The laser inspection machine is designed to automatically inspect the surface of precision-bored holes, such as those in automobile master cylinders, without contacting the machined surface. Although the controls are relatively sophisticated, operation of the laser inspection machine is simple. A laser light beam from a commercially available gas laser, directed through a probe, scans the entire surface of the bore. Reflected light, picked up through optics by photoelectric sensors, generates signals that are fed to a mini-computer for processing. A pattern recognition techniques program in the computer determines acceptance or rejection of the part being inspected. The system's acceptance specifications are adjustable and are set to the user's established tolerances. However, the computer-controlled laser system is capable of defining from 10 to 75 rms surface finish, and voids or flaws from 0.0005 to 0.020 inch. Following the successful demonstration with an engineering prototype, the described laser machine has proved its capability to consistently ensure high-quality master brake cylinders. It thus provides a safety improvement for the automotive braking system. Flawless, smooth cylinder bores eliminate premature wearing of the rubber seals, resulting in a longer-lasting master brake cylinder and a safer and more reliable automobile. The results obtained from use of this system, which has been in operation about a year for replacement of a tedious, manual operation on one of the high-volume lines at the Bendix Hydraulics Division, have been very satisfactory.
Effect of heating mechanism on concrete during inspection by laser shearography
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Mohd Yusnisyam Yusof; Wan Safiey Wan Abdullah; Noorhazleena Azaman; Mohd Zaki Umar; Khairiah Yazid
2010-01-01
This paper highlights heating technique as one of suitable loading mechanism in concrete Non Destructive Testing (NDT) inspection by laser shearography. The reason of heating the concrete as loading mechanism is to give a small deformation to the concrete because the result produced from laser shearography technique reveals flaws by looking into flaw-induced deformation anomalies. In this study Laser shearography that surface displacement gradients is used to detect flaw in concrete sample with the dimension of 31 cm x 10 cm x 4 cm. Laser shearography technique reveal flaws by looking into flaw-induced deformation anomalies that can be observed by heating the sample with 500 Watt- infrared spotlight as loading mechanism at different times intervals. Result obtained by laser shearography shows that the convenient time of heating the concrete sample for flaw detection during 2 minute. For validation, a result from conventional radiography technique is also observed. The application of loading mechanism by heating from a 500 Watt- infrared spotlight makes the laser shearography as a prime alternative technique for detecting flaw in concrete. (author)
Automatic tracking of the intersection of a laser and electron beam
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Turko, B.T.; Fuzesy, R.Z.; Pripstein, D.A.; Kowitt, M.; Chamberlain, O.; Shapiro, G.; Hughes, E.
1990-05-01
For the Compton Polarimeter experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator the crossing point of a laser beam and an electron beam must be kept accurate and stable. An electronic system is described for the automatic tracking and correcting of the beam crossing. A remote CCD camera, relatively insensitive to electromagnetic disturbance, records small displacements of the pulsed laser beam. Video signals are analyzed at a remote station, the amount of drift from a selected reference point determined and the appropriate correction commands sent to the motorized mirror deflecting the laser beam. A description of the system, its performance and the test results are presented. 2 refs., 4 figs
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Liang Cheng
2013-11-01
Full Text Available Data registration is a prerequisite for the integration of multi-platform laser scanning in various applications. A new approach is proposed for the semi-automatic registration of airborne and terrestrial laser scanning data with buildings without eaves. Firstly, an automatic calculation procedure for thresholds in density of projected points (DoPP method is introduced to extract boundary segments from terrestrial laser scanning data. A new algorithm, using a self-extending procedure, is developed to recover the extracted boundary segments, which then intersect to form the corners of buildings. The building corners extracted from airborne and terrestrial laser scanning are reliably matched through an automatic iterative process in which boundaries from two datasets are compared for the reliability check. The experimental results illustrate that the proposed approach provides both high reliability and high geometric accuracy (average error of 0.44 m/0.15 m in horizontal/vertical direction for corresponding building corners for the final registration of airborne laser scanning (ALS and tripod mounted terrestrial laser scanning (TLS data.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hollo, E.; Siklossy, P.; Toth, Zs.
1982-01-01
In the Hungarian Research Institute for Electric Power Industry (VEIKI) an automatic vibration monitoring system for diagnostics and inspection of nuclear power plants of type WWER-440 was developed. The paper summarizes the results of this work and investigates the use of mechanical vibrations and oscillations induced by flow for fault diagnosis. The design of the hardware system, the present software possibilities, the laboratory experiments and the guidelines for future software developments are also described in detail. (A.L.)
Research on the automatic laser navigation system of the tunnel boring machine
Liu, Yake; Li, Yueqiang
2011-12-01
By establishing relevant coordinates of the Automatic Laser Navigation System, the basic principle of the system which accesses the TBM three-dimensional reference point and yawing angle by mathematical transformation between TBM, target prism and earth coordinate systems is discussed deeply in details. According to the way of rigid body descriptions of its posture, TBM attitude parameters measurement and data acquisition methods are proposed, and measures to improve the accuracy of the Laser Navigation System are summarized.
Evaluation of automatic densitometer with laser diode
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Larrea Cox, Pedro J.; Hernandez Tabares, Lorenzo; Suarez San Pedro, Cirilo E.; Vazquez Cano, Aradys; Reyes Rodriguez, Marlen de los
2009-01-01
The evaluation of a prototype of an automatic transmission scanning densitometer is presented. It contains a semiconductor diode laser as a light source, and is mainly oriented to the analysis of protein electrophoresis. It was developed on the Center for Technological Applications and Nuclear Development (CEADEN). Its technical specifications were established and certified by the National Institute of Researches on Metrology (INIMET), and also the equipment was submitted for assays to the Process Control Laboratory, that belongs to the 'Adalberto Pesant' Enterprise for Sera and Hemo derivatives Products, in Havana city, where it was employed to the partial quality control of products that are made there, achieving satisfactory results. (Author)
POTENTIAL OF UAV-BASED LASER SCANNER AND MULTISPECTRAL CAMERA DATA IN BUILDING INSPECTION
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
D. Mader
2016-06-01
Full Text Available Conventional building inspection of bridges, dams or large constructions in general is rather time consuming and often cost expensive due to traffic closures and the need of special heavy vehicles such as under-bridge inspection units or other large lifting platforms. In consideration that, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV will be more reliable and efficient as well as less expensive and simpler to operate. The utilisation of UAVs as an assisting tool in building inspections is obviously. Furthermore, light-weight special sensors such as infrared and thermal cameras as well as laser scanner are available and predestined for usage on unmanned aircraft systems. Such a flexible low-cost system is realized in the ADFEX project with the goal of time-efficient object exploration, monitoring and damage detection. For this purpose, a fleet of UAVs, equipped with several sensors for navigation, obstacle avoidance and 3D object-data acquisition, has been developed and constructed. This contribution deals with the potential of UAV-based data in building inspection. Therefore, an overview of the ADFEX project, sensor specifications and requirements of building inspections in general are given. On the basis of results achieved in practical studies, the applicability and potential of the UAV system in building inspection will be presented and discussed.
GTSP, automatic ultrasonic inspection of Guide Tube Support Pin in nuclear power plants
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
2008-01-01
1 - Description of program or function: GTSP Visitor is a program for automatic detection of known object's position in video frames. It is especially designed for automatic ultrasonic inspection of guide tube support pin (GTSP) in nuclear power plant. 2 - Methods: A GTSP and its position are detected by two-step matched filter algorithm. In first step, a video frame including GTSPs are transformed by DFT. DFTed image is multiplied by matched filter, made from a guide tube image, in frequency domain for estimate Guide Tube center position. Guide Tube areas around estimated center position are erased (pixel values of image are filled with zeros). In next step, image whose guide tube areas were erased is processed as described above but using a different matched filter made from a support pin?s image. Then the positions of two GTSPs are estimated and their orientation is estimated too. Finally its position and orientations are used for control the robot toward the desired position. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Robot control is out of the scope of this program. OpenCV and compatible camera are necessary
Noncontact inspection laser system for characterization of piezoelectric samples
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Jimenez, F.J.; Frutos, J. de
2004-01-01
In this work measurements on a piezoelectric sample in dynamic behavior were taken, in particular, around the frequencies of resonance for the sample where the nonlineal effects are accentuated. Dimension changes in the sample need to be studied as that will allow a more reliable characterization of the piezoelectric samples. The goal of this research is to develop an inspection system able to obtain measurements, using a noncontact laser displacement transducer, also able to visualize, in three-dimensional graphic environment, the displacement that takes place in a piezoelectric sample surface. In resonant mode, the vibration mode of the sample is visualized
An automatic chip structure optical inspection system for electronic components
Song, Zhichao; Xue, Bindang; Liang, Jiyuan; Wang, Ke; Chen, Junzhang; Liu, Yunhe
2018-01-01
An automatic chip structure inspection system based on machine vision is presented to ensure the reliability of electronic components. It consists of four major modules, including a metallographic microscope, a Gigabit Ethernet high-resolution camera, a control system and a high performance computer. An auto-focusing technique is presented to solve the problem that the chip surface is not on the same focusing surface under the high magnification of the microscope. A panoramic high-resolution image stitching algorithm is adopted to deal with the contradiction between resolution and field of view, caused by different sizes of electronic components. In addition, we establish a database to storage and callback appropriate parameters to ensure the consistency of chip images of electronic components with the same model. We use image change detection technology to realize the detection of chip images of electronic components. The system can achieve high-resolution imaging for chips of electronic components with various sizes, and clearly imaging for the surface of chip with different horizontal and standardized imaging for ones with the same model, and can recognize chip defects.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Takeda, Takeshi; Furusawa, Takayuki
2001-07-01
Heat transfer tubes of a primary pressurized water cooled (PPWC) in the high temperature engineering test reactor (HTTR) form the reactor pressure boundary of the primary coolant, therefore are important from the viewpoint of safety. To establish inspection techniques for the heat transfer tubes of the PPWC, an automatic inspection system was developed. The system employs a bobbin coil probe, a rotating probe for eddy current testing (ECT) and a rotating probe for ultrasonic testing (UT). Nondestructive test of a half of the heat transfer tubes of the PPWC was carried out by the automatic inspection system during reactor shutdown period of the HTTR (about 55% in the maximum reactor power in this paper). The nondestructive test results showed that the maximum signal-to-noise ratio was 1.8 in ECT. Pattern and phase of Lissajous wave, which were obtained for the heat transfer tube of the PPWC, were different from those obtained for the artificially defected tube. In UT echo amplitude of the PPWC tubes inspected was lower than 20% of distance-amplitude calibration curve. Thus, it was confirmed that there was no defect in depth, which was more than the detecting standard of the probes, on the outer surface of the heat transfer tubes of the PPWC inspected. (author)
Automatic concrete cracks detection and mapping of terrestrial laser scan data
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mostafa Rabah
2013-12-01
The current paper submits a method for automatic concrete cracks detection and mapping from the data that was obtained during laser scanning survey. The method of cracks detection and mapping is achieved by three steps, namely the step of shading correction in the original image, step of crack detection and finally step of crack mapping and processing steps. The detected crack is defined in a pixel coordinate system. To remap the crack into the referred coordinate system, a reverse engineering is used. This is achieved by a hybrid concept of terrestrial laser-scanner point clouds and the corresponding camera image, i.e. a conversion from the pixel coordinate system to the terrestrial laser-scanner or global coordinate system. The results of the experiment show that the mean differences between terrestrial laser scan and the total station are about 30.5, 16.4 and 14.3 mms in x, y and z direction, respectively.
Strategic planning of developing automatic optical inspection (AOI) technologies in Taiwan
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fan, K C; Hsu, C
2005-01-01
In most domestic hi-tech industries in Taiwan, the automatic optical inspection (AOI) equipment is mostly imported. In view of the required specifications, AOI consists of the integration of mechanical-electrical-optical-information technologies. In the past two decades, traditional industries have lost their competitiveness due to the low profit rate. It is possible to promote a new AOI industry in Taiwan through the integration of its strong background in mechatronic technology in positioning stages with the optical image processing techniques. The market requirements are huge not only in domestic need but also in global need. This is the main reason to promote the AOI research for the coming years in Taiwan. Focused industrial applications will be in IC, PCB, LCD, communication, and MEMS parts. This paper will analyze the domestic and global AOI equipment market, summarize the necessary fish bone technology diagrams, survey the actual industrial needs, and propose the strategic plan to be promoted in Taiwan
Strategic planning of developing automatic optical inspection (AOI) technologies in Taiwan
Fan, K. C.; Hsu, C.
2005-01-01
In most domestic hi-tech industries in Taiwan, the automatic optical inspection (AOI) equipment is mostly imported. In view of the required specifications, AOI consists of the integration of mechanical-electrical-optical-information technologies. In the past two decades, traditional industries have lost their competitiveness due to the low profit rate. It is possible to promote a new AOI industry in Taiwan through the integration of its strong background in mechatronic technology in positioning stages with the optical image processing techniques. The market requirements are huge not only in domestic need but also in global need. This is the main reason to promote the AOI research for the coming years in Taiwan. Focused industrial applications will be in IC, PCB, LCD, communication, and MEMS parts. This paper will analyze the domestic and global AOI equipment market, summarize the necessary fish bone technology diagrams, survey the actual industrial needs, and propose the strategic plan to be promoted in Taiwan.
Verification tests for remote controlled inspection system in nuclear power plants
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kohno, Tadaaki
1986-01-01
Following the increase of nuclear power plants, the total radiation exposure dose accompanying inspection and maintenance works tended to increase. Japan Power Engineering and Inspection Corp. carried out the verification test of a practical power reactor automatic inspection system from November, 1981, to March, 1986, and in this report, the state of having carried out this verification test is described. The objects of the verification test were the equipment which is urgently required for reducing radiation exposure dose, the possibility of realization of which is high, and which is important for ensuring the safety and reliability of plants, that is, an automatic ultrasonic flaw detector for the welded parts of bend pipes, an automatic disassembling and inspection system for control rod driving mechanism, a fuel automatic inspection system, and automatic decontaminating equipments for steam generator water chambers, primary system crud and radioactive gas in coolant. The results of the verification test of these equipments were judged as satisfactory, therefore, the application to actual plants is possible. (Kako, I.)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
1991-03-01
A report is compiled about the high-speed laser beam cutting subsystem being developed under the above-named large-scale industrial technology development project. In the research on an intelligent inspection machine for cloth for apparel making, frontier research and development efforts are conducted using computer-aid control technologies etc. In the research on a 1-dimensional sensor, a new algorithm is contrived for suppressing low the image processing unit cost, noise is removed, and a processing technology of detecting flaws only is invented. In the research on a 2-dimensional sensor, an algorithm is developed capable detecting flaws with stability in the presence of fluctuations in illumination. Furthermore, a new color-difference meter and a CAD (computer-assisted design)-aided cutting system capable of avoiding flaws, etc., are developed. As for the laser beam cutting system, a system is constructed that feeds value-added cut parts in a fully automatic way to the sewing stage according to a schedule generated by a process control computer. An experiment is conducted for meshed knife cutting, and the development goal is attained. (NEDO)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Muller, G.P.; Hallermeier, L.; Heinrich, D.; Grabendorfer, W.; Rebrmann, M.
1985-01-01
Ultrasonic pre-service and especially in-service inspection activities on the primary circuit of nuclear power stations form an essential part of the maintenance work that must be performed throughout the lifetime to ensure plant integrity. Consequently, the equipment required to carry out these inspections must be continuously improved in respect of reliability, safety, accuracy and ease of handling in order to minimize disturbances and repairs and reduce radiation exposure of the personnel. The authors' discussion of technique, equipment and performance of automated ultrasonic inspection is based on 15 years of experience in the testing of components of the primary circuit in nuclear power stations. To cover all inspection areas of the RPV of a PWR, four different manipulators are required, two for the closure head, one for the studs and one for the cylindrical shell and bottom closure. The use of the newly developed equipment, which naturally meets all the recommendations of the licensing authorities, allows for the automatic inspection of the components of primary circuit of nuclear power stations and the thus helps to substantially decrease the radiation exposure of the personnel. All the manipulators and their control consoles were designed and manufactured by M.A.N., Nuremberg while the ultrasonic electronic system was developed by Krautkramer, Cologne
Automated Fringe Pattern Acquisition for Portable Laser Shearography
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Khairiah Yazid; Mohd Yusnisyam Yusof; Wan Saffiey Wan Abdullah
2013-01-01
In shearography system one of the most important tasks is the automatic, fast, reliable processing of the fringe patterns to allow real time inspection. Development of digital CCD cameras, the PC (fast and small data acquisition), high power lasers have led to dramatic performance improvements in shearography instruments and systems. This paper concentrates on development of fringe pattern acquisition using digital CCD camera for portable laser shearography system. A new program for fringe pattern processing which incorporates rapid methods for automatic fringe pattern acquisition and filtering has been developed. The algorithm is written using MATLAB. A graphical user interface with several functions was developed to ensure an easy adaptation in custom applications and providing a flexible way for additional functions. The preliminary results show that the developed algorithm can be used to generate good contrast and reliable fringe pattern. (author)
Weld quality inspection using laser-EMAT ultrasonic system and C-scan method
Yang, Lei; Ume, I. Charles
2014-02-01
Laser/EMAT ultrasonic technique has attracted more and more interests in weld quality inspection because of its non-destructive and non-contact characteristics. When ultrasonic techniques are used to detect welds joining relative thin plates, the dominant ultrasonic waves present in the plates are Lamb waves, which propagate all through the thickness. Traditional Time of Flight(ToF) method loses its power. The broadband nature of laser excited ultrasound plus dispersive and multi-modal characteristic of Lamb waves make the EMAT acquired signals very complicated in this situation. Challenge rises in interpreting the received signals and establishing relationship between signal feature and weld quality. In this paper, the laser/EMAT ultrasonic technique was applied in a C-scan manner to record full wave propagation field over an area close to the weld. Then the effect of weld defect on the propagation field of Lamb waves was studied visually by watching an movie resulted from the recorded signals. This method was proved to be effective to detect the presence of hidden defect in the weld. Discrete wavelet transform(DWT) was applied to characterize the acquired ultrasonic signals and ideal band-pass filter was used to isolate wave components most sensitive to the weld defect. Different interactions with the weld defect were observed for different wave components. Thus this C-Scan method, combined with DWT and ideal band-pass filter, proved to be an effective methodology to experimentally study interactions of various laser excited Lamb Wave components with weld defect. In this work, the method was demonstrated by inspecting a hidden local incomplete penetration in weld. In fact, this method can be applied to study Lamb Wave interactions with any type of structural inconsistency. This work also proposed a ideal filtered based method to effectively reduce the total experimental time.
Computer automation of ultrasonic testing. [inspection of ultrasonic welding
Yee, B. G. W.; Kerlin, E. E.; Gardner, A. H.; Dunmyer, D.; Wells, T. G.; Robinson, A. R.; Kunselman, J. S.; Walker, T. C.
1974-01-01
Report describes a prototype computer-automated ultrasonic system developed for the inspection of weldments. This system can be operated in three modes: manual, automatic, and computer-controlled. In the computer-controlled mode, the system will automatically acquire, process, analyze, store, and display ultrasonic inspection data in real-time. Flaw size (in cross-section), location (depth), and type (porosity-like or crack-like) can be automatically discerned and displayed. The results and pertinent parameters are recorded.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Choi, D.H.; Song, Y.C.; Kim, J.H.; Kim, J.G.
2004-01-01
The inspection of steam-generator tubes in nuclear power plants needs to collect test signals in a highly radiated region that is not accessible by humans. In general, a robot equipped with a camera and a test probe is used to handle such a dangerous environment. The robot moves the probe to right below a tube to be inspected and then the probe is inserted into the tube. The inspection signals are acquired while the probe is pulling back. Currently, an operator in a control room controls all the process remotely. To make a fully automatic inspection system, first of all, a control mechanism is needed to position the probe to the proper location. This is so called a hand-eye coordination problem. In this paper, a hand-eye coordination method for a robot has been presented. The proposed method consists of the two consecutive control modes: rough positioning and fine-tuning. The rough positioning controller tries to position its probe near a target place using kinematics information and the known environments, and then the fine-tuning controller tries to adjust the probe to the target using the image acquired by the camera attached to the robot. The usefulness of the proposed method has been tested and verified through experiments. (orig.)
Automatic welding of stainless steel tubing
Clautice, W. E.
1978-01-01
The use of automatic welding for making girth welds in stainless steel tubing was investigated as well as the reduction in fabrication costs resulting from the elimination of radiographic inspection. Test methodology, materials, and techniques are discussed, and data sheets for individual tests are included. Process variables studied include welding amperes, revolutions per minute, and shielding gas flow. Strip chart recordings, as a definitive method of insuring weld quality, are studied. Test results, determined by both radiographic and visual inspection, are presented and indicate that once optimum welding procedures for specific sizes of tubing are established, and the welding machine operations are certified, then the automatic tube welding process produces good quality welds repeatedly, with a high degree of reliability. Revised specifications for welding tubing using the automatic process and weld visual inspection requirements at the Kennedy Space Center are enumerated.
Boresonic inspection of power plant rotors
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rennie, I.S.
1990-01-01
Continental Field Machining and NEI Parsons together are able to provide an on site machining and boresonic inspection service. NEI Parsons existing boresonic equipment is described together with a summary of results obtained during the inspection of eighty rotors. A computer controlled automatic inspection system, planned to be in operation early in 1990, is also described
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fuchs, T.; Hassler, U.; Huetten, U.; Wenzel, T.
2006-01-01
The aim of our work was the integration of various newly-developed methods into a system for fully automatic radioscopic inspection of arbitrary casting parts. Using a 16-bit flat-panel detector, projections in arbitrary directions through the part are acquired and analysed. The software tool for inspection can be separated into five stages: registration, calibration, image processing, fault segmentation, and quality assessment. Thereby, each step is realized with full 16-bit data processing. Within the first processing stage, information about the physical length and density of the aluminium structures is extracted from the primary projections. Next, the primary image is registered with a reference image, which was acquired previously. Afterwards, the third stage combines both reference image-based and reference-less testing. A filter is applied, which adapts automatically to the local object structure by referring to the properties of the reference. Thereby, the self-adapting filter selects its size, direction and filter method optimally according to the local situation. Similar to the reference-less procedure, a subtraction is followed by a threshold operation, resulting in a map of regions that are suspected to be faulty. The fourth step aims at an elimination of false-positive detections. Again, two methods are applied successively: evaluation of local image features at suspicious positions and a classification based on teachings independent of position and orientation of the faults. Within the last step the quality criteria are applied. These criteria may concern fault size and depth, the density of faults in critical regions and a minimum distance between two or more faults. (orig.)
UAV Low Altitude Photogrammetry for Power Line Inspection
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yong Zhang
2017-01-01
Full Text Available When the distance between an obstacle and a power line is less than the discharge distance, a discharge arc can be generated, resulting in the interruption of power supplies. Therefore, regular safety inspections are necessary to ensure the safe operation of power grids. Tall vegetation and buildings are the key factors threatening the safe operation of extra high voltage transmission lines within a power line corridor. Manual or laser intensity direction and ranging (LiDAR based inspections are time consuming and expensive. To make safety inspections more efficient and flexible, a low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV remote-sensing platform, equipped with an optical digital camera, was used to inspect power line corridors. We propose a semi-patch matching algorithm based on epipolar constraints, using both the correlation coefficient (CC and the shape of its curve to extract three dimensional (3D point clouds for a power line corridor. We use a stereo image pair from inter-strip to improve power line measurement accuracy by transforming the power line direction to an approximately perpendicular to epipolar line. The distance between the power lines and the 3D point cloud is taken as a criterion for locating obstacles within the power line corridor automatically. Experimental results show that our proposed method is a reliable, cost effective, and applicable way for practical power line inspection and can locate obstacles within the power line corridor with accuracy better than ±0.5 m.
NRF Based Nondestructive Inspection System for SNM by Using Laser-Compton-Backscattering Gamma-Rays
Ohgaki, H.; Omer, M.; Negm, H.; Daito, I.; Zen, H.; Kii, T.; Masuda, K.; Hori, T.; Hajima, R.; Hayakawa, T.; Shizuma, T.; Kando, M.
2015-10-01
A non-destructive inspection system for special nuclear materials (SNMs) hidden in a sea cargo has been developed. The system consists of a fast screening system using neutron generated by inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) device and an isotope identification system using nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) measurements with laser Compton backscattering (LCS) gamma-rays has been developed. The neutron flux of 108 n/sec has been achieved by the IEC in static mode. We have developed a modified neutron reactor noise analysis method to detect fission neutron in a short time. The LCS gamma-rays has been generated by using a small racetrack microtoron accelerator and an intense sub-nano second laser colliding head-on to the electron beam. The gamma-ray flux has been achieved more than 105 photons/s. The NRF gamma-rays will be measured using LaBr3(Ce) scintillation detector array whose performance has been measured by NRF experiment of U-235 in HIGS facility. The whole inspection system has been designed to satisfy a demand from the sea port.
An intelligent inspection and survey robot
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Byrd, J.; Holland, J.M.
1994-01-01
ARIES (Autonomous Robotic Inspection Experimental System) is a semi-autonomous robotic system intended for use in the automatic inspection of stored containers of low-level nuclear waste. This article describes the technology and how it could be used. 3 refs., 3 figs
Development of high sensitivity and high speed large size blank inspection system LBIS
Ohara, Shinobu; Yoshida, Akinori; Hirai, Mitsuo; Kato, Takenori; Moriizumi, Koichi; Kusunose, Haruhiko
2017-07-01
The production of high-resolution flat panel displays (FPDs) for mobile phones today requires the use of high-quality large-size photomasks (LSPMs). Organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays use several transistors on each pixel for precise current control and, as such, the mask patterns for OLED displays are denser and finer than the patterns for the previous generation displays throughout the entire mask surface. It is therefore strongly demanded that mask patterns be produced with high fidelity and free of defect. To enable the production of a high quality LSPM in a short lead time, the manufacturers need a high-sensitivity high-speed mask blank inspection system that meets the requirement of advanced LSPMs. Lasertec has developed a large-size blank inspection system called LBIS, which achieves high sensitivity based on a laser-scattering technique. LBIS employs a high power laser as its inspection light source. LBIS's delivery optics, including a scanner and F-Theta scan lens, focus the light from the source linearly on the surface of the blank. Its specially-designed optics collect the light scattered by particles and defects generated during the manufacturing process, such as scratches, on the surface and guide it to photo multiplier tubes (PMTs) with high efficiency. Multiple PMTs are used on LBIS for the stable detection of scattered light, which may be distributed at various angles due to irregular shapes of defects. LBIS captures 0.3mμ PSL at a detection rate of over 99.5% with uniform sensitivity. Its inspection time is 20 minutes for a G8 blank and 35 minutes for G10. The differential interference contrast (DIC) microscope on the inspection head of LBIS captures high-contrast review images after inspection. The images are classified automatically.
A prototype distributed object-oriented architecture for image-based automatic laser alignment
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Stout, E.A.; Kamm, V.J.M.; Spann, J.M.; Van Arsdall, P.J.
1996-01-01
Designing a computer control system for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a complex undertaking because of the system's large size and its distributed nature. The controls team is addressing that complexity by adopting the object-oriented programming paradigm, designing reusable software frameworks, and using the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) for distribution. A prototype system for image-based automatic laser alignment has been developed to evaluate and gain experience with CORBA and OOP in a small distributed system. The prototype is also important in evaluating alignment concepts, image processing techniques, speed and accuracy of automatic alignment objectives for the NIF, and control hardware for aligment devices. The prototype system has met its inital objectives and provides a basis for continued development
AUTOMATIC RAILWAY POWER LINE EXTRACTION USING MOBILE LASER SCANNING DATA
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S. Zhang
2016-06-01
Full Text Available Research on power line extraction technology using mobile laser point clouds has important practical significance on railway power lines patrol work. In this paper, we presents a new method for automatic extracting railway power line from MLS (Mobile Laser Scanning data. Firstly, according to the spatial structure characteristics of power-line and trajectory, the significant data is segmented piecewise. Then, use the self-adaptive space region growing method to extract power lines parallel with rails. Finally use PCA (Principal Components Analysis combine with information entropy theory method to judge a section of the power line whether is junction or not and which type of junction it belongs to. The least squares fitting algorithm is introduced to model the power line. An evaluation of the proposed method over a complicated railway point clouds acquired by a RIEGL VMX450 MLS system shows that the proposed method is promising.
Automatic weld joint X-ray inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Richter, H.U.; Linke, D.; Siems, K.D.; Kruse, H.; Schuetze, E.
1990-01-01
A gantry mounted robotic x-ray inspection unit has been developed for the series testing of small and medium sized welded components (pipe bends and nozzles). The unit features computer controlled positioning of the x-ray tube and x-ray image amplifier. Image quality classes 2 and even 1 could be achieved without difficulty. (author)
Method of analyzing the shipping inspection water in nuclear fuels
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ishikawa, Tatsuo; Izumoji, Yoshiaki.
1984-01-01
Purpose: To automatically perform radioactive-corrosion-products removing operation and thereby automatic analysis for shipping inspection water. Method: An radioactive-corrosion-product removing device has a column filled with a chelate resin layer. Shipping-inspection water as a specimen is injected from a sample-water inlet to the column, passes through the chelate resin layer, issues through the sample-water exit and is then stored once in a sample collector. The shipping inspection water sampled in the sampling collector is sent to an inspection port in an on-line or off-line manner and gamma-ray determination is made by a gamma-ray spectrum analyzer. (Horiuchi, T.)
46 CFR 61.30-20 - Automatic control and safety tests.
2010-10-01
... 46 Shipping 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Automatic control and safety tests. 61.30-20 Section 61... TESTS AND INSPECTIONS Tests and Inspections of Fired Thermal Fluid Heaters § 61.30-20 Automatic control and safety tests. Operational tests and checks of all safety and limit controls, combustion controls...
System for automatic x-ray-image analysis, measurement, and sorting of laser fusion targets
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Singleton, R.M.; Perkins, D.E.; Willenborg, D.L.
1980-01-01
This paper describes the Automatic X-Ray Image Analysis and Sorting (AXIAS) system which is designed to analyze and measure x-ray images of opaque hollow microspheres used as laser fusion targets. The x-ray images are first recorded on a high resolution film plate. The AXIAS system then digitizes and processes the images to accurately measure the target parameters and defects. The primary goals of the AXIAS system are: to provide extremely accurate and rapid measurements, to engineer a practical system for a routine production environment and to furnish the capability of automatically measuring an array of images for sorting and selection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Jhang, Kyung Young; Kim, Hong Joon; Cemiglia, Donatella; Djordjevic, Boro
2001-01-01
Ultrasonic MDE/I methods have been demonstrated as very effective tool in characterization of cracks and structural defects such as bond-line failures. Most of the ultrasonic testing is performed using conventional contact ultrasonic transducers that cannot be readily adapted to automation and field application. However, for large area inspection contact type is time consuming and as a result, it is important to develop a rapid and more efficient ultrasonic technique. In this paper, laser generation and air-coupled detection of ultrasound is proposed as a solution of non-contact method with no requirement of a coupling medium, and the bond quality of adhesively bonded and riveted aluminum lap splice joints is investigated as an application. A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and a periodic transmission mask are used to generate a selected Lamb mode. The experimental show that multi-line laser source produces significant directed ultrasound and that the presence of defects can be detected reliably from the attenuation of signal amplitude. These results demonstrate that the proposed technique is well suitable and flexible for non-contact NDE/I applications.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Gong, Hui; Olsen, Flemming Ove
CO2 lasers are increasingly being utilized for quality welding in production. Considering the high cost of equipment, the start-up time and the set-up time should be minimized. Ideally the parameters should be set up and optimized more or less automatically. In this paper a control system...... is designed and built to automatically optimize the focal point position, one of the most important parameters in CO2 laser welding, in order to perform a desired deep/full penetration welding. The control system mainly consists of a multi-axis motion controller - PMAC, a light sensor - Photo Diode, a data...
To develop a flying fish egg inspection system by a digital imaging base system
Chen, Chun-Jen; Jywe, Wenyuh; Hsieh, Tung-Hsien; Chen, Chien Hung
2015-07-01
This paper develops an automatic optical inspection system for flying fish egg quality inspection. The automatic optical inspection system consists of a 2-axes stage, a digital camera, a lens, a LED light source, a vacuum generator, a tube and a tray. This system can automatically find the particle on the flying egg tray and used stage to driver the tube onto the particle. Then use straw and vacuum generator to pick up the particle. The system pick rate is about 30 particles per minute.
Grammar-based Automatic 3D Model Reconstruction from Terrestrial Laser Scanning Data
Yu, Q.; Helmholz, P.; Belton, D.; West, G.
2014-04-01
The automatic reconstruction of 3D buildings has been an important research topic during the last years. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to automatically reconstruct the 3D building models from segmented data based on pre-defined formal grammar and rules. Such segmented data can be extracted e.g. from terrestrial or mobile laser scanning devices. Two steps are considered in detail. The first step is to transform the segmented data into 3D shapes, for instance using the DXF (Drawing Exchange Format) format which is a CAD data file format used for data interchange between AutoCAD and other program. Second, we develop a formal grammar to describe the building model structure and integrate the pre-defined grammars into the reconstruction process. Depending on the different segmented data, the selected grammar and rules are applied to drive the reconstruction process in an automatic manner. Compared with other existing approaches, our proposed method allows the model reconstruction directly from 3D shapes and takes the whole building into account.
Application of parallel processing for automatic inspection of printed circuits
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lougheed, R.M.
1986-01-01
Automated visual inspection of printed electronic circuits is a challenging application for image processing systems. Detailed inspection requires high speed analysis of gray scale imagery along with high quality optics, lighting, and sensing equipment. A prototype system has been developed and demonstrated at the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM) for inspection of multilayer thick-film circuits. The central problem of real-time image processing is solved by a special-purpose parallel processor which includes a new high-speed Cytocomputer. In this chapter the inspection process and the algorithms used are summarized, along with the functional requirements of the machine vision system. Next, the parallel processor is described in detail and then performance on this application is given
49 CFR 236.825 - System, automatic train control.
2010-10-01
... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false System, automatic train control. 236.825 Section..., INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OF SIGNAL AND TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND APPLIANCES Definitions § 236.825 System, automatic train control. A system so arranged that its operation will automatically...
Ultrafast dark-field surface inspection with hybrid-dispersion laser scanning
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yazaki, Akio; Kim, Chanju; Chan, Jacky; Mahjoubfar, Ata; Goda, Keisuke; Watanabe, Masahiro; Jalali, Bahram
2014-01-01
High-speed surface inspection plays an important role in industrial manufacturing, safety monitoring, and quality control. It is desirable to go beyond the speed limitation of current technologies for reducing manufacturing costs and opening a new window onto a class of applications that require high-throughput sensing. Here, we report a high-speed dark-field surface inspector for detection of micrometer-sized surface defects that can travel at a record high speed as high as a few kilometers per second. This method is based on a modified time-stretch microscope that illuminates temporally and spatially dispersed laser pulses on the surface of a fast-moving object and detects scattered light from defects on the surface with a sensitive photodetector in a dark-field configuration. The inspector's ability to perform ultrafast dark-field surface inspection enables real-time identification of difficult-to-detect features on weakly reflecting surfaces and hence renders the method much more practical than in the previously demonstrated bright-field configuration. Consequently, our inspector provides nearly 1000 times higher scanning speed than conventional inspectors. To show our method's broad utility, we demonstrate real-time inspection of the surface of various objects (a non-reflective black film, transparent flexible film, and reflective hard disk) for detection of 10 μm or smaller defects on a moving target at 20 m/s within a scan width of 25 mm at a scan rate of 90.9 MHz. Our method holds promise for improving the cost and performance of organic light-emitting diode displays for next-generation smart phones, lithium-ion batteries for green electronics, and high-efficiency solar cells.
Ultrafast dark-field surface inspection with hybrid-dispersion laser scanning
Yazaki, Akio; Kim, Chanju; Chan, Jacky; Mahjoubfar, Ata; Goda, Keisuke; Watanabe, Masahiro; Jalali, Bahram
2014-06-01
High-speed surface inspection plays an important role in industrial manufacturing, safety monitoring, and quality control. It is desirable to go beyond the speed limitation of current technologies for reducing manufacturing costs and opening a new window onto a class of applications that require high-throughput sensing. Here, we report a high-speed dark-field surface inspector for detection of micrometer-sized surface defects that can travel at a record high speed as high as a few kilometers per second. This method is based on a modified time-stretch microscope that illuminates temporally and spatially dispersed laser pulses on the surface of a fast-moving object and detects scattered light from defects on the surface with a sensitive photodetector in a dark-field configuration. The inspector's ability to perform ultrafast dark-field surface inspection enables real-time identification of difficult-to-detect features on weakly reflecting surfaces and hence renders the method much more practical than in the previously demonstrated bright-field configuration. Consequently, our inspector provides nearly 1000 times higher scanning speed than conventional inspectors. To show our method's broad utility, we demonstrate real-time inspection of the surface of various objects (a non-reflective black film, transparent flexible film, and reflective hard disk) for detection of 10 μm or smaller defects on a moving target at 20 m/s within a scan width of 25 mm at a scan rate of 90.9 MHz. Our method holds promise for improving the cost and performance of organic light-emitting diode displays for next-generation smart phones, lithium-ion batteries for green electronics, and high-efficiency solar cells.
Enhanced InService Inspection system for BWR plant
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Shouji, Hajime; Kobayashi, Teruo; Nagao, Tetsuya
1993-01-01
An enhanced InService Inspection system (ISI) has been developed, consisting of newly designed automated scanners, automated pipe inspection system and a high speed data acquisition/analysis station. This system uses a trackless magnetic crawler type nozzle inspection scanner attached to the nozzle shoulder by magnetic wheels. The automated pipe inspection system consists of an automated scanner, controller and high speed data acquisition station. These advanced automatic inspection systems are very useful for ISI, especially in reducing the radiation exposure and time required. (author)
Automatic Compensation of Workpiece Positioning Tolerances for Precise Laser
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
N. C. Stache
2008-01-01
Full Text Available Precise laser welding plays a fundamental role in the production of high-tech goods, particularly in precision engineering. In this working field, precise adjustment and compensation of positioning tolerances of the parts to be welded with respect to the laser beam is of paramount importance. This procedure mostly requires tedious and error-prone manual adjustment, which additionally results in a sharp increase in production costs. We therefore developed a system which automates and thus accelerates this procedure significantly. To this end, the welding machine is equipped with a camera to acquire high resolution images of the parts to be welded. In addition, a software framework is developed which enables precise automatic position detection of these parts and adjusts the position of the welding contour correspondingly. As a result, the machine is rapidly prepared for welding, and it is much more flexible in adapting to unknown parts.This paper describes the entire concept of extending a conventional welding machine with means for image acquisition and position estimation. In addition to this description, the algorithms, the results of an evaluation of position estimation, and a final welding result are presented.
Development of automatic ultrasonic testing system and its application
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Oh, Sang Hong; Matsuura, Toshihiko; Iwata, Ryusuke; Nakagawa, Michio; Horikawa, Kohsuke; Kim, You Chul
1997-01-01
The radiographic testing (RT) has been usually applied to a nondestructive testing, which is carried out on purpose to detect internal defects at welded joints of a penstock. In the case that RT could not be applied to, the ultrasonic testing (UT) was performed. UT was generally carried out by manual scanning and the inspections data were recorded by the inspector in a site. So, as a weak point, there was no objective inspection records correspond to films of RT. It was expected that the automatic ultrasonic testing system by which automatic scanning and automatic recording are possible was developed. In this respect, the automatic ultrasonic testing system was developed. Using newly developed the automatic ultrasonic testing system, test results to the circumferential welded joints of the penstock at a site were shown in this paper.
Development of laser materials processing and laser metrology techniques
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Cheol Jung; Chung, Chin Man; Kim, Jeong Mook; Kim, Min Suk; Kim, Kwang Suk; Baik, Sung Hoon; Kim, Seong Ouk; Park, Seung Kyu
1997-09-01
The applications of remote laser materials processing and metrology have been investigated in nuclear industry from the beginning of laser invention because they can reduce the risks of workers in the hostile environment by remote operation. The objective of this project is the development of laser material processing and metrology techniques for repairing and inspection to improve the safety of nuclear power plants. As to repairing, we developed our own laser sleeve welding head and innovative optical laser weld monitoring techniques to control the sleeve welding process. Furthermore, we designed and fabricated a 800 W Nd:YAG and a 150 W Excimer laser systems for high power laser materials processing in nuclear industry such as cladding and decontamination. As to inspection, we developed an ESPI and a laser triangulation 3-D profile measurement system for defect detection which can complement ECT and UT inspections. We also developed a scanning laser vibrometer for remote vibration measurement of large structures and tested its performance. (author). 58 refs., 16 tabs., 137 figs
Development of outdoor luminescence imaging for drone-based PV array inspection
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Benatto, Gisele Alves dos Reis; Riedel, Nicholas; Thorsteinsson, Sune
2017-01-01
This work has the goal to examined experimentally PV module imaging methods under natural light conditions, that will be used in a fast, accurate and automatic drone-based inspection system for PV power plants.......This work has the goal to examined experimentally PV module imaging methods under natural light conditions, that will be used in a fast, accurate and automatic drone-based inspection system for PV power plants....
Automatic Rail Extraction and Celarance Check with a Point Cloud Captured by Mls in a Railway
Niina, Y.; Honma, R.; Honma, Y.; Kondo, K.; Tsuji, K.; Hiramatsu, T.; Oketani, E.
2018-05-01
Recently, MLS (Mobile Laser Scanning) has been successfully used in a road maintenance. In this paper, we present the application of MLS for the inspection of clearance along railway tracks of West Japan Railway Company. Point clouds around the track are captured by MLS mounted on a bogie and rail position can be determined by matching the shape of the ideal rail head with respect to the point cloud by ICP algorithm. A clearance check is executed automatically with virtual clearance model laid along the extracted rail. As a result of evaluation, the accuracy of extracting rail positions is less than 3 mm. With respect to the automatic clearance check, the objects inside the clearance and the ones related to a contact line is successfully detected by visual confirmation.
Automatic laser beam alignment using blob detection for an environment monitoring spectroscopy
Khidir, Jarjees; Chen, Youhua; Anderson, Gary
2013-05-01
This paper describes a fully automated system to align an infra-red laser beam with a small retro-reflector over a wide range of distances. The component development and test were especially used for an open-path spectrometer gas detection system. Using blob detection under OpenCV library, an automatic alignment algorithm was designed to achieve fast and accurate target detection in a complex background environment. Test results are presented to show that the proposed algorithm has been successfully applied to various target distances and environment conditions.
Hussnain, Zille; Oude Elberink, Sander; Vosselman, George
2016-06-01
In mobile laser scanning systems, the platform's position is measured by GNSS and IMU, which is often not reliable in urban areas. Consequently, derived Mobile Laser Scanning Point Cloud (MLSPC) lacks expected positioning reliability and accuracy. Many of the current solutions are either semi-automatic or unable to achieve pixel level accuracy. We propose an automatic feature extraction method which involves utilizing corresponding aerial images as a reference data set. The proposed method comprise three steps; image feature detection, description and matching between corresponding patches of nadir aerial and MLSPC ortho images. In the data pre-processing step the MLSPC is patch-wise cropped and converted to ortho images. Furthermore, each aerial image patch covering the area of the corresponding MLSPC patch is also cropped from the aerial image. For feature detection, we implemented an adaptive variant of Harris-operator to automatically detect corner feature points on the vertices of road markings. In feature description phase, we used the LATCH binary descriptor, which is robust to data from different sensors. For descriptor matching, we developed an outlier filtering technique, which exploits the arrangements of relative Euclidean-distances and angles between corresponding sets of feature points. We found that the positioning accuracy of the computed correspondence has achieved the pixel level accuracy, where the image resolution is 12cm. Furthermore, the developed approach is reliable when enough road markings are available in the data sets. We conclude that, in urban areas, the developed approach can reliably extract features necessary to improve the MLSPC accuracy to pixel level.
Ohgaki, H.; Daito, I.; Zen, H.; Kii, T.; Masuda, K.; Misawa, T.; Hajima, R.; Hayakawa, T.; Shizuma, T.; Kando, M.; Fujimoto, S.
2017-07-01
A Neutron/Gamma-ray combined inspection system for hidden special nuclear materials (SNMs) in cargo containers has been developed under a program of Japan Science and Technology Agency in Japan. This inspection system consists of an active neutron-detection system for fast screening and a laser Compton backscattering gamma-ray source in coupling with nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) method for precise inspection. The inertial electrostatic confinement fusion device has been adopted as a neutron source and two neutron-detection methods, delayed neutron noise analysis method and high-energy neutron-detection method, have been developed to realize the fast screening system. The prototype system has been constructed and tested in the Reactor Research Institute, Kyoto University. For the generation of the laser Compton backscattering gamma-ray beam, a race track microtron accelerator has been used to reduce the size of the system. For the NRF measurement, an array of LaBr3(Ce) scintillation detectors has been adopted to realize a low-cost detection system. The prototype of the gamma-ray system has been demonstrated in the Kansai Photon Science Institute, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology. By using numerical simulations based on the data taken from these prototype systems and the inspection-flow, the system designed by this program can detect 1 kg of highly enriched 235U (HEU) hidden in an empty 20-ft container within several minutes.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yang, Min; Liu, Qi; Zhao, Hongsheng; Li, Ziqiang; Liu, Bing; Li, Xingdong; Meng, Fanyong
2014-01-01
As a core unit of HTGRs (high-temperature gas-cooled reactors), the quality of spherical fuel elements is directly related to the safety and reliability of HTGRs. In line with the design and performance requirements of the spherical fuel elements, no coated fuel particles are permitted to enter the fuel-free zone of a spherical fuel element. For fast and accurate detection of escaped coated fuel particles, X-ray DR (digital radiography) imaging with a step-by-step circular scanning trajectory was adopted for Chinese 10 MW HTGRs. The scanning parameters dominating the volume of the blind zones were optimized to ensure the missing detection of the escaped coated fuel particles is as low as possible. We proposed a dynamic calibration method for tracking the projection of the fuel-free zone accurately, instead of using a fuel-free zone mask of fixed size and position. After the projection data in the fuel-free zone were extracted, image and graphic processing methods were combined for automatic recognition of escaped coated fuel particles, and some practical inspection results were presented. - Highlights: • An X-ray DR imaging system for quality inspection of spherical fuel elements was introduced. • A method for optimizing the blind-zone-related scanning parameter was proposed. • A dynamic calibration method for tracking the fuel-free zone accurately was proposed. • Some inspection results of the disqualified spherical fuel elements with escaped coated fuel particles were presented
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
1999-03-01
This study was conducted to standardize the chemical analysis and non-destructive inspection methods for pure titanium metals of industrial grade. These methods are among those serving bases for international standardization of products. The chemical analysis is aimed at quantitative analysis of trace impurities, in particular, present in pure titanium metals of industrial grade by developing and standardizing the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, known for its low detectable limit, and, at the same time, spark and glow discharged atomic emission spectrometry as the improved routine analysis methods. These methods, although being used by, e.g., steel makers, have not been standardized because the effects of titanium-peculiar matrix are not elucidated. The non-destructive testing is aimed at standardization of the techniques useful for automatic production lines. More concretely, these include optical methods aided by a laser or CCD camera for plate surface defect inspection, ultrasonic methods for plate internal defect inspection, and pressure differential methods for air-tightness of welded pipes. They have not been used yet for automatic production lines. (NEDO)
Eddy current automatic inspection of heat exchangers in nuclear power stations
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Cazal, M.; Scopelliti, J.D.; Mendez, J.
1997-01-01
This presentation describes the eddy current tube inspection techniques for heavy heat exchangers in nuclear power stations. The purpose of these eddy current tests, is first to determine the integrity of the heat exchanger tubes, and to characterize the related types of defects in each case following to their analysis and cause determination and subsequent inspection planning. This task requires a group highly qualified personnel with high tech automate equipment. The organization of the group required a correct function and task assignment in order to achieve efficiency in scheduling, with simultaneous inspection to different components in a continuous base and uninterruptedly. A lead specialist is in charge of the group, which is set up by several shift supervisors, a qualified tele manipulator installation crew a number of qualified tele manipulator operators, and the specialist for data acquisition and certified eddy current signal evaluators plus some other support technicians and administrations helpers. In order to comply with inspection requirements, a bunch of technical procedures had to be developed. The following equipment is available nowadays: Zetec SM-13, SM-23 and SM-22 tele manipulators for inspection probes positioning, with different shapes and configuration (rotating probes, flexible probes for U-Bends, and magnetic saturation probes endowed with their own driving units) and remote data acquisition units identified as MIZ-18 A and MIZ-30, which are remotely operated from a mobile lab installed in a trailer, outside the reactor building. The available equipment allows a simultaneous inspection of three different plant components (two steam generators and a moderator heat exchanger). We are also in a position of performing eddy current tube inspection in more than a NSP at the same time. The Zetec Eddynet software is used in the manipulator operation and for the data acquisition and defect evaluation. This software operates within Windows
Automatic Measurement in Large-Scale Space with the Laser Theodolite and Vision Guiding Technology
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bin Wu
2013-01-01
Full Text Available The multitheodolite intersection measurement is a traditional approach to the coordinate measurement in large-scale space. However, the procedure of manual labeling and aiming results in the low automation level and the low measuring efficiency, and the measurement accuracy is affected easily by the manual aiming error. Based on the traditional theodolite measuring methods, this paper introduces the mechanism of vision measurement principle and presents a novel automatic measurement method for large-scale space and large workpieces (equipment combined with the laser theodolite measuring and vision guiding technologies. The measuring mark is established on the surface of the measured workpiece by the collimating laser which is coaxial with the sight-axis of theodolite, so the cooperation targets or manual marks are no longer needed. With the theoretical model data and the multiresolution visual imaging and tracking technology, it can realize the automatic, quick, and accurate measurement of large workpieces in large-scale space. Meanwhile, the impact of artificial error is reduced and the measuring efficiency is improved. Therefore, this method has significant ramification for the measurement of large workpieces, such as the geometry appearance characteristics measuring of ships, large aircraft, and spacecraft, and deformation monitoring for large building, dams.
Luminescence imaging strategies for drone-based PV array inspection
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Benatto, Gisele Alves dos Reis; Riedel, Nicholas; Mantel, Claire
2017-01-01
The goal of this work is to perform outdoor defect detection imaging that will be used in a fast, accurate and automatic drone-based survey system for PV power plants. The imaging development focuses on techniques that do not require electrical contact, permitting automatic drone inspections...
Defect inspection in hot slab surface: multi-source CCD imaging based fuzzy-rough sets method
Zhao, Liming; Zhang, Yi; Xu, Xiaodong; Xiao, Hong; Huang, Chao
2016-09-01
To provide an accurate surface defects inspection method and make the automation of robust image region of interests(ROI) delineation strategy a reality in production line, a multi-source CCD imaging based fuzzy-rough sets method is proposed for hot slab surface quality assessment. The applicability of the presented method and the devised system are mainly tied to the surface quality inspection for strip, billet and slab surface etcetera. In this work we take into account the complementary advantages in two common machine vision (MV) systems(line array CCD traditional scanning imaging (LS-imaging) and area array CCD laser three-dimensional (3D) scanning imaging (AL-imaging)), and through establishing the model of fuzzy-rough sets in the detection system the seeds for relative fuzzy connectedness(RFC) delineation for ROI can placed adaptively, which introduces the upper and lower approximation sets for RIO definition, and by which the boundary region can be delineated by RFC region competitive classification mechanism. For the first time, a Multi-source CCD imaging based fuzzy-rough sets strategy is attempted for CC-slab surface defects inspection that allows an automatic way of AI algorithms and powerful ROI delineation strategies to be applied to the MV inspection field.
Laser triangulation method for measuring the size of parking claw
Liu, Bo; Zhang, Ming; Pang, Ying
2017-10-01
With the development of science and technology and the maturity of measurement technology, the 3D profile measurement technology has been developed rapidly. Three dimensional measurement technology is widely used in mold manufacturing, industrial inspection, automatic processing and manufacturing, etc. There are many kinds of situations in scientific research and industrial production. It is necessary to transform the original mechanical parts into the 3D data model on the computer quickly and accurately. At present, many methods have been developed to measure the contour size, laser triangulation is one of the most widely used methods.
Development of innovative inspection tools for higher reliability of PHWR fuel
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kamalesh Kumar, B.; Viswanathan, B.; Laxminarayana, B.; Ganguly, C.
2003-01-01
'Full text:' Advent of Computer aided manufacturing systems has led to very high rate of production with greater reliability. The conventional inspection tools and systems, which are often manual based do not complement with output of highly automated production line. In order to overcome the deficiency, a strategic plan was developed for having automated inspection facility for PHWR fuel assembly line. Laser based systems with their inherently high accuracy and quick response times are a favorite for metrology purpose. Non-contact nature of laser-based measurement ensures minimal contamination, low wear and tear and good repeatability. So far two laser-based systems viz. Pellet density measurement systems and triangulation sensors have been developed. Laser based fuel pellet inspection system and PHWR fuel bundle metric station are under development. Machine vision-based systems have been developed to overcome certain limitations when inspection has to be carried out on such a large scale manually. These deficiencies arise from limitations of resolution, accessibility, fatigue and absence of quantification ability. These problems get further compounded in inspection of fuel components because of their relatively small sizes, close tolerances required and the reflective surfaces. PC based vision system has been developed for inspecting components and fuel assemblies. The paper would touch upon the details of the various laser systems and vision systems that have been indigenously developed for PHWR Fuel Metrology and their impact on the assembly production line. (author)
Automatic Indoor Building Reconstruction from Mobile Laser Scanning Data
Xie, L.; Wang, R.
2017-09-01
Indoor reconstruction from point clouds is a hot topic in photogrammetry, computer vision and computer graphics. Reconstructing indoor scene from point clouds is challenging due to complex room floorplan and line-of-sight occlusions. Most of existing methods deal with stationary terrestrial laser scanning point clouds or RGB-D point clouds. In this paper, we propose an automatic method for reconstructing indoor 3D building models from mobile laser scanning point clouds. The method includes 2D floorplan generation, 3D building modeling, door detection and room segmentation. The main idea behind our approach is to separate wall structure into two different types as the inner wall and the outer wall based on the observation of point distribution. Then we utilize a graph cut based optimization method to solve the labeling problem and generate the 2D floorplan based on the optimization result. Subsequently, we leverage an ?-shape based method to detect the doors on the 2D projected point clouds and utilize the floorplan to segment the individual room. The experiments show that this door detection method can achieve a recognition rate at 97% and the room segmentation method can attain the correct segmentation results. We also evaluate the reconstruction accuracy on the synthetic data, which indicates the accuracy of our method is comparable to the state-of-the art.
An automated system for rail transit infrastructure inspection.
2015-03-01
This project applied commercial remote sensing and spatial information (CRS&SI) : technologies such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), laser, GIS, and GPS to passenger rail : inspections. An integrated rail inspection system that can be mounted on hi...
Automatic quality control in the production of ceramic substrates by pulsed laser cutting
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Morace, Renate Erica; Hansen, Hans Nørgaard; De Chiffre, Leonardo
2004-01-01
This paper deals with the use of optical coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) in the quality control of ceramic substrates produced by a CO2 pulsed laser. A procedure of automatic measurements on a CMM equipped with a CCD camera was developed. In particular, the number and the distribution...... of cavities on the cut face of thin ceramic substrates were investigated and different strategies to assess the depth and the pitch of cavities were compared. Then, the measurement uncertainty for these two critical parameters was evaluated using the method described in ISO/TS 15530-3....
Development of diaphragm automatic homing equipment
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kobayashi, Hidetoshi; Yamada, Koji; Moriya, Shinichi; Koike, Jiro; Okabe, Masao; Oyama, Akihiro.
1996-01-01
In steam-turbine overhaul inspection, one of the most important processes is to remove rust and deposited contaminants on the surface of turbine parts, while the turbine is in operation, to recover thermal efficiency and prepare good surface conditions for color penetrant inspection. These processes generally are done by dry honing, but this generates dust. To protect laborers against these conditions, Hitachi, Ltd. has developed automatic honing equipment for the diaphragms of the nuclear steam turbine. This equipment was first used in the first annual inspection and overhaul of Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant No.4 of Chubu Electric Power Inc. (author)
Line-scan inspection of conifer seedlings
Rigney, Michael P.; Kranzler, Glenn A.
1993-05-01
Almost two billion conifer seedlings are produced in the U.S. each year to support reforestation efforts. Seedlings are graded manually to improve viability after transplanting. Manual grading is labor-intensive and subject to human variability. Our previous research demonstrated the feasibility of automated tree seedling inspection with machine vision. Here we describe a system based on line-scan imaging, providing a three-fold increase in resolution and inspection rate. A key aspect of the system is automatic recognition of the seedling root collar. Root collar diameter, shoot height, and projected shoot and root areas are measured. Sturdiness ratio and shoot/root ratio are computed. Grade is determined by comparing measured features with pre-defined set points. Seedlings are automatically sorted. The precision of machine vision and manual measurements was determined in tests at a commercial forest nursery. Manual measurements of stem diameter, shoot height, and sturdiness ratio had standard deviations three times those of machine vision measurements. Projected shoot area was highly correlated (r2 equals 0.90) with shoot volume. Projected root area had good correlation (r2 equals 0.80) with root volume. Seedlings were inspected at rates as high as ten per second.
Automatic camera to laser calibration for high accuracy mobile mapping systems using INS
Goeman, Werner; Douterloigne, Koen; Gautama, Sidharta
2013-09-01
A mobile mapping system (MMS) is a mobile multi-sensor platform developed by the geoinformation community to support the acquisition of huge amounts of geodata in the form of georeferenced high resolution images and dense laser clouds. Since data fusion and data integration techniques are increasingly able to combine the complementary strengths of different sensor types, the external calibration of a camera to a laser scanner is a common pre-requisite on today's mobile platforms. The methods of calibration, nevertheless, are often relatively poorly documented, are almost always time-consuming, demand expert knowledge and often require a carefully constructed calibration environment. A new methodology is studied and explored to provide a high quality external calibration for a pinhole camera to a laser scanner which is automatic, easy to perform, robust and foolproof. The method presented here, uses a portable, standard ranging pole which needs to be positioned on a known ground control point. For calibration, a well studied absolute orientation problem needs to be solved. In many cases, the camera and laser sensor are calibrated in relation to the INS system. Therefore, the transformation from camera to laser contains the cumulated error of each sensor in relation to the INS. Here, the calibration of the camera is performed in relation to the laser frame using the time synchronization between the sensors for data association. In this study, the use of the inertial relative movement will be explored to collect more useful calibration data. This results in a better intersensor calibration allowing better coloring of the clouds and a more accurate depth mask for images, especially on the edges of objects in the scene.
Algorithm design of liquid lens inspection system
Hsieh, Lu-Lin; Wang, Chun-Chieh
2008-08-01
In mobile lens domain, the glass lens is often to be applied in high-resolution requirement situation; but the glass zoom lens needs to be collocated with movable machinery and voice-coil motor, which usually arises some space limits in minimum design. In high level molding component technology development, the appearance of liquid lens has become the focus of mobile phone and digital camera companies. The liquid lens sets with solid optical lens and driving circuit has replaced the original components. As a result, the volume requirement is decreased to merely 50% of the original design. Besides, with the high focus adjusting speed, low energy requirement, high durability, and low-cost manufacturing process, the liquid lens shows advantages in the competitive market. In the past, authors only need to inspect the scrape defect made by external force for the glass lens. As to the liquid lens, authors need to inspect the state of four different structural layers due to the different design and structure. In this paper, authors apply machine vision and digital image processing technology to administer inspections in the particular layer according to the needs of users. According to our experiment results, the algorithm proposed can automatically delete non-focus background, extract the region of interest, find out and analyze the defects efficiently in the particular layer. In the future, authors will combine the algorithm of the system with automatic-focus technology to implement the inside inspection based on the product inspective demands.
The TS 600: automatic control system for eddy currents
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Poulet, J.P.
1986-10-01
In the scope of fabrication and in service inspection of the PWR steam generator tubing bendle, FRAMATOME developed an automatic Eddy Current testing system: TS600. Based on a mini-computer, TS600 allows to digitize, to store and to process data in various ways, so it is possible to perform several kinds of inspection: conventional inservice inspection, roll area profilometry...... TS600 can also be used to develop new methods of examination [fr
Automatic inspection for remotely manufactured fuel elements
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Reifman, J.; Vitela, J.E.; Gibbs, K.S.; Benedict, R.W.
1995-01-01
Two classification techniques, standard control charts and artificial neural networks, are studied as a means for automating the visual inspection of the welding of end plugs onto the top of remotely manufactured reprocessed nuclear fuel element jackets. Classificatory data are obtained through measurements performed on pre- and post-weld images captured with a remote camera and processed by an off-the-shelf vision system. The two classification methods are applied in the classification of 167 dummy stainless steel (HT9) fuel jackets yielding comparable results
Automatic analysis of ultrasonic data
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Horteur, P.; Colin, J.; Benoist, P.; Bonis, M.; Paradis, L.
1986-10-01
This paper describes an automatic and self-contained data processing system, transportable on site, able to perform images such as ''A. Scan'', ''B. Scan'', ... to present very quickly the results of the control. It can be used in the case of pressure vessel inspection [fr
Demonstration test of in-service inspection methods
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Takumi, Kenji
1987-01-01
The major objectives of the project are: (1) to demonstrate the reliability of a manual ultrasonic flaw detector and techniques that are used in operating light water reactor plants and (2) to demonstrate the performance and reliability of an automatic ultrasonic flaw detector that is designed to shorten the time required for ISI work and reduce the exposure risk of inspection personnel. The test project consists of three stages. In the first stage, which ended in 1982, defects were added intentionally to a model structure the same in size as a typical 1.1 million kW BWR plant and manual ultrasonic flaw detection tensting was performed. In the second stage, completed in 1984, automatic eddy-current flaw detection testing was carried out for defects in heat transfer piping of a PWP steam generator. In the third stage, which started in 1981 and ended in March 1987, a newly developed automatic ultrasonic flaw detector is applied to testing of defects used for the manual detector performance evaluation. Results have shown that the automatic eddy-current flaw detector under test has an adequately stable performance for practical uses, with a very high reproducibility to permit close inspection of secular deterioration in heat transfer pipes. It has also revealed that both the manual and automatic ultrasonic flaw detectors under test can detect all defects that do not comply with the ASME standards. (Nogami, K.)
Mechanized inspection of steam generator components during manufacture
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Otte, H.-J.; Leupoldt, K.; Meister, W.
2009-01-01
the capability of automatic optimizing the inspection speed thus reducing the inspection time to a minimum. Full A-scan (HF information), peak and gate data acquisition can be selected. After performing the inspection resp. the inspection sequences the inspector can check the results before loading them to the network of the manufacturer for final storage on the server. If defects were found these defects can be automatically listed in an indication table providing all information necessary (location, size) to decide on the further procedure. (author)
Automatic welding machine for piping
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yoshida, Kazuhiro; Koyama, Takaichi; Iizuka, Tomio; Ito, Yoshitoshi; Takami, Katsumi.
1978-01-01
A remotely controlled automatic special welding machine for piping was developed. This machine is utilized for long distance pipe lines, chemical plants, thermal power generating plants and nuclear power plants effectively from the viewpoint of good quality control, reduction of labor and good controllability. The function of this welding machine is to inspect the shape and dimensions of edge preparation before welding work by the sense of touch, to detect the temperature of melt pool, inspect the bead form by the sense of touch, and check the welding state by ITV during welding work, and to grind the bead surface and inspect the weld metal by ultrasonic test automatically after welding work. The construction of this welding system, the main specification of the apparatus, the welding procedure in detail, the electrical source of this welding machine, the cooling system, the structure and handling of guide ring, the central control system and the operating characteristics are explained. The working procedure and the effect by using this welding machine, and the application to nuclear power plants and the other industrial field are outlined. The HIDIC 08 is used as the controlling computer. This welding machine is useful for welding SUS piping as well as carbon steel piping. (Nakai, Y.)
Automatic Extraction of Road Markings from Mobile Laser Scanning Data
Ma, H.; Pei, Z.; Wei, Z.; Zhong, R.
2017-09-01
Road markings as critical feature in high-defination maps, which are Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and self-driving technology required, have important functions in providing guidance and information to moving cars. Mobile laser scanning (MLS) system is an effective way to obtain the 3D information of the road surface, including road markings, at highway speeds and at less than traditional survey costs. This paper presents a novel method to automatically extract road markings from MLS point clouds. Ground points are first filtered from raw input point clouds using neighborhood elevation consistency method. The basic assumption of the method is that the road surface is smooth. Points with small elevation-difference between neighborhood are considered to be ground points. Then ground points are partitioned into a set of profiles according to trajectory data. The intensity histogram of points in each profile is generated to find intensity jumps in certain threshold which inversely to laser distance. The separated points are used as seed points to region grow based on intensity so as to obtain road mark of integrity. We use the point cloud template-matching method to refine the road marking candidates via removing the noise clusters with low correlation coefficient. During experiment with a MLS point set of about 2 kilometres in a city center, our method provides a promising solution to the road markings extraction from MLS data.
New developments for optimization of automatic inspections in nuclear power plants
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bollini, G.J.; Gonzalez, B.
1989-01-01
One of the most important factors to be taken into acount with respect to remote control mechanized inspection tasks carried out during refueling outages in nuclear power plants, which include components and systems as varied as the reactor vessel, nozzles, piping, vessel head closure bolts, turbine discs, etc., is the unification of systems used to control the inspection systems themselves. Likewise, the implementation in these systems of specific functions simplifying operational sequences and confirming correct execution of work implies a set of criteria that must be taken into account if the reliability of the tasks carried out is to be increased. The system presented in this paper, SIROCCO (Sistema Robotizado de Control) has been designed taking into consideration the above mentioned criteria, with two clear obectives in mind: a reduction in inspection times and in the dose received by the participating technical personnel, and an increase in the reliability of the electronic equipment used. In February and March of this year, during shutdown of a BMR-type nuclear power plant, several SIROCCO control units were usids in mechanized inspection systems of various kinds, applicable to components such as those mentioned above, with forecasts regarding the reduction of inspection times being met. The main reasons for this reduction were the familiarity of the operators with this single control system, the unification of replacement parts for equipment maintenance and the availability of interchangeable units. This philosophy of unification of electronic systems also includes data acquisition and the transmission of information between different areas, which require the unification of control systems already commented and accomplished. This course of action is currently under development at Tecnatom. (author). 4 figs
Online Fabric Defect Inspection Using Smart Visual Sensors
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Changqing Sun
2013-04-01
Full Text Available Fabric defect inspection is necessary and essential for quality control in the textile industry. Traditionally, fabric inspection to assure textile quality is done by humans, however, in the past years, researchers have paid attention to PC-based automatic inspection systems to improve the detection efficiency. This paper proposes a novel automatic inspection scheme for the warp knitting machine using smart visual sensors. The proposed system consists of multiple smart visual sensors and a controller. Each sensor can scan 800 mm width of web, and can work independently. The following are considered in dealing with broken-end defects caused by a single yarn: first, a smart visual sensor is composed of a powerful DSP processor and a 2-megapixel high definition image sensor. Second, a wavelet transform is used to decompose fabric images, and an improved direct thresholding method based on high frequency coefficients is proposed. Third, a proper template is chosen in a mathematical morphology filter to remove noise. Fourth, a defect detection algorithm is optimized to meet real-time demands. The proposed scheme has been running for six months on a warp knitting machine in a textile factory. The actual operation shows that the system is effective, and its detection rate reaches 98%.
An Automatic Indirect Immunofluorescence Cell Segmentation System
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yung-Kuan Chan
2014-01-01
Full Text Available Indirect immunofluorescence (IIF with HEp-2 cells has been used for the detection of antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA in systemic autoimmune diseases. The ANA testing allows us to scan a broad range of autoantibody entities and to describe them by distinct fluorescence patterns. Automatic inspection for fluorescence patterns in an IIF image can assist physicians, without relevant experience, in making correct diagnosis. How to segment the cells from an IIF image is essential in developing an automatic inspection system for ANA testing. This paper focuses on the cell detection and segmentation; an efficient method is proposed for automatically detecting the cells with fluorescence pattern in an IIF image. Cell culture is a process in which cells grow under control. Cell counting technology plays an important role in measuring the cell density in a culture tank. Moreover, assessing medium suitability, determining population doubling times, and monitoring cell growth in cultures all require a means of quantifying cell population. The proposed method also can be used to count the cells from an image taken under a fluorescence microscope.
49 CFR 229.25 - Tests: Every periodic inspection.
2010-10-01
... mechanical gauges used by the engineer to aid in the control or braking of the train or locomotive, except... follows: (1) All automatic controls, alarms and protective devices shall be inspected and tested. (2...
Li, Jianping; Yang, Bisheng; Chen, Chi; Huang, Ronggang; Dong, Zhen; Xiao, Wen
2018-02-01
Inaccurate exterior orientation parameters (EoPs) between sensors obtained by pre-calibration leads to failure of registration between panoramic image sequence and mobile laser scanning data. To address this challenge, this paper proposes an automatic registration method based on semantic features extracted from panoramic images and point clouds. Firstly, accurate rotation parameters between the panoramic camera and the laser scanner are estimated using GPS and IMU aided structure from motion (SfM). The initial EoPs of panoramic images are obtained at the same time. Secondly, vehicles in panoramic images are extracted by the Faster-RCNN as candidate primitives to be matched with potential corresponding primitives in point clouds according to the initial EoPs. Finally, translation between the panoramic camera and the laser scanner is refined by maximizing the overlapping area of corresponding primitive pairs based on the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), resulting in a finer registration between panoramic image sequences and point clouds. Two challenging urban scenes were experimented to assess the proposed method, and the final registration errors of these two scenes were both less than three pixels, which demonstrates a high level of automation, robustness and accuracy.
Automatic segmentation of cell nuclei from confocal laser scanning microscopy images
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kelemen, A.; Reist, H.W.
1997-01-01
A newly developed experimental method combines the possibility of irradiating more than a thousand cells simultaneous with an efficient colony-forming ability and with the capability of localizing a particle track through a cell nucleus together with the assessment of the energy transfer by digital superposition of the image containing the track with that of the cells. To assess the amount of energy deposition by particles traversing the cell nucleus the intersection lengths of the particle tracks have to be known. Intersection lengths can be obtained by determining the 3D surface contours of the irradiated cell nuclei. Confocal laser scanning microscopy using specific DNA fluorescent dye offers a possible way for the determination of the 3D shape of individual nuclei. Unfortunately, such experiments cannot be performed on living cells. One solution to this problem can be provided by building a statistical model of the shape of the nuclei of the exposed cells. In order to build such a statistical model, a large number of cell nuclei have to be identified and segmented from confocal laser scanning microscopy images. The present paper describes a method to perform this 3D segmentation in an automatic manner in order to create a solid basis for the statistical model. (author) 2 figs., 4 refs
Plant abnormality inspection device
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Takenaka, Toshio.
1990-01-01
The present invention concerns a plant abnormality inspection device for conducting remote or automatic patrolling inspection in a plant and, more particularly, relates to such a device as capable of detecting abnormal odors. That is, the device comprises a moving device for moving to a predetermined position in the plant, a plurality of gas sensors for different kind of gases to be inspected mounted thereon, a comparator for comparing the concentration of a gas detected by the gas sensor with the normal gas concentration at the predetermined position and a judging means for judging the absence or presence of abnormality depending on the combination of the result of the comparison and deliverying a signal if the state is abnormal. As a result, a slight amount of gas responsible to odors released upon abnormality of the plant can be detected by a plurality of gas sensors for different kinds gases to rapidly and easily find abnormal portions in the plant. (I.S.)
Mini-Uav LIDAR for Power Line Inspection
Teng, G. E.; Zhou, M.; Li, C. R.; Wu, H. H.; Li, W.; Meng, F. R.; Zhou, C. C.; Ma, L.
2017-09-01
Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) recently are in rapid advancement, meanwhile portable and flexible mini-UAV-borne laser scanners have been a hot research field, especially for the complex terrain survey in the mountains and other areas. This study proposes a power line inspection system solution based on mini-UAV-borne LIDAR system-AOEagle, developed by Academy of Opto-Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, which mounted on a Multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle for complex terrain survey according to real test. Furthermore, the point cloud data was explored to validate its applicability for power line inspection, in terms of corridor and line laser point clouds; deformation detection of power towers, etc. The feasibility and advantages of AOEagle have been demonstrated by the promising results based on the real-measured data in the field of power line inspection.
Computerized automated remote inspection system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
The automated inspection system utilizes a computer to control the location of the ultrasonic transducer, the actual inspection process, the display of the data, and the storage of the data on IBM magnetic tape. This automated inspection equipment provides two major advantages. First, it provides a cost savings, because of the reduced inspection time, made possible by the automation of the data acquisition, processing, and storage equipment. This reduced inspection time is also made possible by a computerized data evaluation aid which speeds data interpretation. In addition, the computer control of the transducer location drive allows the exact duplication of a previously located position or flaw. The second major advantage is that the use of automated inspection equipment also allows a higher-quality inspection, because of the automated data acquisition, processing, and storage. This storage of data, in accurate digital form on IBM magnetic tape, for example, facilitates retrieval for comparison with previous inspection data. The equipment provides a multiplicity of scan data which will provide statistical information on any questionable volume or flaw. An automatic alarm for location of all reportable flaws reduces the probability of operator error. This system has the ability to present data on a cathode ray tube as numerical information, a three-dimensional picture, or ''hard-copy'' sheet. One important advantage of this system is the ability to store large amounts of data in compact magnetic tape reels
Usability improvement of x-ray food inspection equipment
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ohira, Norihiro; Yamaguchi, Takashi; Ohara, Mamoru; Shimizu, Hideaki; Kamimura, Kunio; Saiki, Hideo
2010-01-01
To properly set up X-ray inspection equipment of foreign bodies in foods properly has become more and more complicated and time-consuming, because digital image processing used in it has more parameters for more precise inspecting. In this paper, it is reported some methods to lighten the work load of workers who set up the parameters. Using Statistical methods, we construct an auto setting lookup table for adjusting contrast and parameters of inspection algorithm. With the former we confirmed an expansion of a range of grey levels that include domain of foreign bodies in sample data. Furthermore, with we constructed in our former research, we can set automatically limit of parameters that judge input product's image to be not including foreign bodies. It is suitable for food inspection system, since users prefer severely inspecting of foreign products. (author)
Laser-based structural sensing and surface damage detection
Guldur, Burcu
this research is to combine useful information extracted from laser scanner data with color information, which provides information in the fourth dimension that enables detection of damage types such as cracks, corrosion, and related surface defects that are generally difficult to detect using only laser scanner data; moreover, the color information also helps to track volumetric changes on structures such as spalling. Although using images with varying resolution to detect cracks is an extensively researched topic, damage detection using laser scanners with and without color images is a new research area that holds many opportunities for enhancing the current practice of visual inspections. The aim is to combine the best features of laser scans and images to create an automatic and effective surface damage detection method, which will reduce the need for skilled labor during visual inspections and allow automatic documentation of related information. This work enables developing surface damage detection strategies that integrate existing condition rating criteria for a wide range damage types that are collected under three main categories: small deformations already existing on the structure (cracks); damage types that induce larger deformations, but where the initial topology of the structure has not changed appreciably (e.g., bent members); and large deformations where localized changes in the topology of the structure have occurred (e.g., rupture, discontinuities and spalling). The effectiveness of the developed damage detection algorithms are validated by comparing the detection results with the measurements taken from test specimens and test-bed bridges.
Automatic ultrasonic inspection of pipeline girth weldswith a corrosive resistant alloy (Cra) layer
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ent, Jan Van Der; Portzgen, Niels; Findlay, Niele; Nupen, Oddbjorn; Endal, Geir; Forli, Olav
2007-01-01
There is very limited experience in the Offshore Pipeline industry regarding the Automated Ultrasonic Inspection of Austenitic Girth Welds with CRA layers. The AUT inspection technique to be used for Austenitic welds having CRA layers deviates from the standard approach, which is described within internationally available AUT inspection standards. Due to the coarse grain and anisotropic structure of the weld material, special designed ultrasonic probes and adapted AUT system inspection software were required for examination of the Nome Satellite CRA welds. The 'new' inspection approach was subject for qualification and validation in order to demonstrate that the proposed technique could fulfill stringent inspection requirements which are applicable for the reeling process. Experiences from former projects are difficult to find, since this was the first clad pipeline to be reeled. To determine the overall qualification program to be performed for the Nome Satellite project, reference has been made to the existing development experiences on CRA weld inspection from the Shell Bonga project. The available defect population was obtained out of real CRA pipeline production welds and were therefore of a naturally coarse. Representatives from Technip, Statoil and DNV performed an audit at RTD premises with the objective to draw up an inventory of the performed CRA qualification work and to judge whether this work could be used for the benefit of the Nome Satellite project. It has been concluded that the existing CRA qualification work could be used to complement the Nome Satellite scope of CRA qualification work. As a result the statistical uncertainties were reduced merging the both qualification program results (referenced qualification data and additional Nome Satellite Field qualification work)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Akeel, H.A.
1987-01-01
A robot-laser system is described for providing a laser beam at a desired location, the system comprising: a laser beam source; a robot including a plurality of movable parts including a hollow robot arm having a central axis along which the laser source directs the laser beam; at least one mirror for reflecting the laser beam from the source to the desired location, the mirror being mounted within the robot arm to move therewith and relative thereto to about a transverse axis that extends angularly to the central axis of the robot arm; and an automatic programmable control system for automatically moving the mirror about the transverse axis relative to and in synchronization with movement of the robot arm to thereby direct the laser beam to the desired location as the arm is moved
AUTOMATIC EXTRACTION OF ROAD MARKINGS FROM MOBILE LASER SCANNING DATA
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
H. Ma
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Road markings as critical feature in high-defination maps, which are Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS and self-driving technology required, have important functions in providing guidance and information to moving cars. Mobile laser scanning (MLS system is an effective way to obtain the 3D information of the road surface, including road markings, at highway speeds and at less than traditional survey costs. This paper presents a novel method to automatically extract road markings from MLS point clouds. Ground points are first filtered from raw input point clouds using neighborhood elevation consistency method. The basic assumption of the method is that the road surface is smooth. Points with small elevation-difference between neighborhood are considered to be ground points. Then ground points are partitioned into a set of profiles according to trajectory data. The intensity histogram of points in each profile is generated to find intensity jumps in certain threshold which inversely to laser distance. The separated points are used as seed points to region grow based on intensity so as to obtain road mark of integrity. We use the point cloud template-matching method to refine the road marking candidates via removing the noise clusters with low correlation coefficient. During experiment with a MLS point set of about 2 kilometres in a city center, our method provides a promising solution to the road markings extraction from MLS data.
Automatic low-order aberration correction based on geometrical optics for slab lasers.
Yu, Xin; Dong, Lizhi; Lai, Boheng; Yang, Ping; Liu, Yong; Kong, Qingfeng; Yang, Kangjian; Tang, Guomao; Xu, Bing
2017-02-20
In this paper, we present a method based on geometry optics to simultaneously correct low-order aberrations and reshape the beams of slab lasers. A coaxial optical system with three lenses is adapted. The positions of the three lenses are directly calculated based on the beam parameters detected by wavefront sensors. The initial sizes of the input beams are 1.8 mm×11 mm, and peak-to-valley (PV) values of the wavefront range up to several tens of microns. After automatic correction, the dimensions may reach nearly 22 mm×22 mm as expected, and PV values of the wavefront are less than 2 μm. The effectiveness and precision of this method are verified with experiments.
Automatic diameter control system applied to the laser heated pedestal growth technique
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Andreeta M.R.B.
2003-01-01
Full Text Available We described an automatic diameter control system (ADC, for the laser heated pedestal growth technique, that reduces the diameter fluctuations in oxide fibers grown from unreacted and non-sinterized pedestals, to less than 2% of the average fiber diameter, and diminishes the average diameter fluctuation, over the entire length of the fiber, to less than 1%. The ADC apparatus is based on an artificial vision system that controls the pulling speed and the height of the molten zone within a precision of 30 mum. We also show that this system can be used for periodic in situ axial doping the fiber. Pure and Cr3+ doped LaAlO3 and pure LiNbO3 were usedas model materials.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tim Ritter
2017-07-01
Full Text Available Mapping of exact tree positions can be regarded as a crucial task of field work associated with forest monitoring, especially on intensive research plots. We propose a two-stage density clustering approach for the automatic mapping of tree positions, and an algorithm for automatic tree diameter estimates based on terrestrial laser-scanning (TLS point cloud data sampled under limited sighting conditions. We show that our novel approach is able to detect tree positions in a mixed and vertically structured stand with an overall accuracy of 91.6%, and with omission- and commission error of only 5.7% and 2.7% respectively. Moreover, we were able to reproduce the stand’s diameter in breast height (DBH distribution, and to estimate single trees DBH with a mean average deviation of ±2.90 cm compared with tape measurements as reference.
Oniga, E.
2012-07-01
The result of the terrestrial laser scanning is an impressive number of spatial points, each of them being characterized as position by the X, Y and Z co-ordinates, by the value of the laser reflectance and their real color, expressed as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values. The color code for each LIDAR point is taken from the georeferenced digital images, taken with a high resolution panoramic camera incorporated in the scanner system. In this article I propose a new algorithm for the semiautomatic texture generation, using the color information, the RGB values of every point that has been taken by terrestrial laser scanning technology and the 3D surfaces defining the buildings facades, generated with the Leica Cyclone software. The first step is when the operator defines the limiting value, i.e. the minimum distance between a point and the closest surface. The second step consists in calculating the distances, or the perpendiculars drawn from each point to the closest surface. In the third step we associate the points whose 3D coordinates are known, to every surface, depending on the limiting value. The fourth step consists in computing the Voronoi diagram for the points that belong to a surface. The final step brings automatic association between the RGB value of the color code and the corresponding polygon of the Voronoi diagram. The advantage of using this algorithm is that we can obtain, in a semi-automatic manner, a photorealistic 3D model of the building.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ketsaya Vacharanukul
2006-06-01
Full Text Available To achieve dynamic error compensation in CNC machine tools, a non-contactlaser probe capable of dimensional measurement of a workpiece while it is being machinedhas been developed and presented in this paper. The measurements are automatically fedback to the machine controller for intelligent error compensations. Based on a well resolvedlaser Doppler technique and real time data acquisition, the probe delivers a very promisingdimensional accuracy at few microns over a range of 100 mm. The developed opticalmeasuring apparatus employs a differential laser Doppler arrangement allowing acquisitionof information from the workpiece surface. In addition, the measurements are traceable tostandards of frequency allowing higher precision.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sahoo, N.K.; Apparao, K.V.S.R.
1992-01-01
Optical thin film devices play a major role in many areas of frontier technology like development of various laser systems to the designing of complex and precision optical systems. Design and development of these devices are really challenging when they are meant for high power laser applications. In these cases besides desired optical characteristics, the devices are expected to satisfy a whole range of different needs like high damage threshold, durability etc. In the present work a novel completely automatic design method based on Modified Complex Method has been developed for designing of high power thin film devices. Unlike most of the other methods it does not need any suitable starting design. A quarterwave design is sufficient to start with. If required, it is capable of generating its own starting design. The computer code of the method is very simple to implement. This report discusses this novel automatic design method and presents various practicable output designs generated by it. The relative efficiency of the method along with other powerful methods has been presented while designing a broadband IR antireflection coating. The method is also incorporated with 2D and 3D electric field analysis programmes to produce high damage threshold designs. Some experimental devices developed using such designs are also presented in the report. (author). 36 refs., 41 figs
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Takama, Shinkichi; Kobayashi, Koji; Satoh, Yoshio; Koga, Yoshihiro; Shimizu, Takakazu
1981-01-01
In-service inspection (ISI) is required during the plant outage to assure the reliability of the components of a nuclear power plant. IHI has developed the advanced ISI system which consists of remote controlled and mechanized ultrasonic inspection devices for reactor pressure vessel examination, semi-automatic inspection instruments for piping examination with manual scan and automatic recording, data acquisition and processing system with microprocessor and mini-computer. By this system, ISI can be performed fully satisfying the requirement of ASME Code Sec. XI and minimizing operation in the high radioactive areas. All ultrasonic information is processed by the computer and the examination results such as size and location of ultrasonic indication are printed out in the form of sectional and plan view of the part examined, reproduced screen image and polar plot, etc. as well as the evaluation sheet. This system saves the elaborate work of inspection personnel and is expected to contribute to the improvement of inspection quality and to the reduction of radiation exposure of inspection personnel. (author)
Duan, Fajie; Fu, Xiao; Jiang, Jiajia; Huang, Tingting; Ma, Ling; Zhang, Cong
2018-05-01
In this work, an automatic variable selection method for quantitative analysis of soil samples using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is proposed, which is based on full spectrum correction (FSC) and modified iterative predictor weighting-partial least squares (mIPW-PLS). The method features automatic selection without artificial processes. To illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the method, a comparison with genetic algorithm (GA) and successive projections algorithm (SPA) for different elements (copper, barium and chromium) detection in soil was implemented. The experimental results showed that all the three methods could accomplish variable selection effectively, among which FSC-mIPW-PLS required significantly shorter computation time (12 s approximately for 40,000 initial variables) than the others. Moreover, improved quantification models were got with variable selection approaches. The root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) of models utilizing the new method were 27.47 (copper), 37.15 (barium) and 39.70 (chromium) mg/kg, which showed comparable prediction effect with GA and SPA.
A fast automatic power control circuit for a small form-factor pluggable laser diode drive
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wang Huan; Wang Zhigong; Xu Jian; Miao Peng; Li Wei [Institute of RF- and OE-ICs, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096 (China); Luo Yin; Yang Siyong, E-mail: wanghuan@seu.edu.c [Jiangsu Sino-Chip OE-IC Co. Ltd, Nanjing 210016 (China)
2010-06-15
A fast automatic power control (APC) circuit for a laser diode driver (LDD) has been implemented in a 0.6-{mu}m BiCMOS process. The APC circuit adopts double-loops and variable-bandwidth techniques to achieve a turn-on time of < 400 {mu}s for most kinds of TOSAs. Thus, it meets the small form-factor pluggable (SFP) agreement. Such techniques make a good tradeoff between stability, accuracy, turn-on time, noise and convenience. The measured results indicate that the APC circuit is suitable for SFP LDD. (semiconductor integrated circuits)
Principles of alignment of multi-beam lasers for thermonuclear purposes
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Basov, N.G.; Belyan, B.F.; Zhilkin, G.P.
1978-01-01
The problems of methods and equipment for power pulse laser adjustment, as well as the problem of adjustment automatization are considered. The adjustment of a power 12-channel ''Dolphin'' laser installation on the neodymium glass is taken as a concrete object. The adjustment objects are optical track of laser installation, guidance and laser radiation focusing system on the target, the system of target delivery to the focal volume, control system of element optical quality of laser installation and laser beams, as well as target radiation conditions in vacuum chamber. List of requirements of adjustment beams, possible sources of adjustment beams, equipment complex and laser installation adjustment methods are considered. The principles and scheme solutions of automatic adjustment of optical elements are discussed and the description of working samples of automatic joints is given. The problem of working laser beams imitation by adjusting and the possibilities of automatization of laser radiation space-angle characteristics control are considered. The control scheme of adjustment processes with computer as well as the switching on of adjustment automatic subsystem in the general automatization scheme of the ''Dolphin'' installation are discussed
A Collaborative Approach for Surface Inspection Using Aerial Robots and Computer Vision
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Martin Molina
2018-03-01
Full Text Available Aerial robots with cameras on board can be used in surface inspection to observe areas that are difficult to reach by other means. In this type of problem, it is desirable for aerial robots to have a high degree of autonomy. A way to provide more autonomy would be to use computer vision techniques to automatically detect anomalies on the surface. However, the performance of automated visual recognition methods is limited in uncontrolled environments, so that in practice it is not possible to perform a fully automatic inspection. This paper presents a solution for visual inspection that increases the degree of autonomy of aerial robots following a semi-automatic approach. The solution is based on human-robot collaboration in which the operator delegates tasks to the drone for exploration and visual recognition and the drone requests assistance in the presence of uncertainty. We validate this proposal with the development of an experimental robotic system using the software framework Aerostack. The paper describes technical challenges that we had to solve to develop such a system and the impact on this solution on the degree of autonomy to detect anomalies on the surface.
Strategies to reduce PWR inspection time
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Guerra, J.; Gonzalez, E.
2001-01-01
During last few years, a constant reduction in inspection time was clearly demanded by most nuclear plant owners. This requirement has to be accomplished without any impact in inspection quality that, in general, has also to be improved. All this in a market with increasing competition that forces price reductions. Under these new demands from our customers, Tecnatom reoriented its development efforts to improve his products and services to meet this challenges. Two of our main inspection activities that have clear impact in outage duration are Steam Generator and Vessel inspections. This paper describes the improvements made in these two activities as an example of the reorientation of our development efforts with a focus on the technical improvements made on the software and robotic tools applied as in the data acquisition and analysis systems. In the Steam Generator inspections, new robots with dual guide tubes are commonly used. New eddy current instruments and software were developed to keep up with the data rates produced by the faster acquisition system. Use of automatic analysis software is also helping to improve speed while reducing cost and improving overall job quality. Production rates are close to double from the previous inspection system. (author)
Full-scale testing of waste package inspection system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yagi, T.; Kuribayashi, H.; Moriya, Y.; Fujisawa, H.; Takebayashi, N.
1989-01-01
In land disposal of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) in Japan, it is legally required that the waste packages to be disposed of be inspected for conformance to applicable technical regulations prior to shipment from each existing power station. JGC has constructed a fully automatic waste package inspection system for the purpose of obtaining the required design data and proving the performance of the system. This system consists of three inspection units (for visual inspection, surface contamination/dose rate measurement and radioactivity/weight measurement), a labelling unit, a centralized control unit and a drum handling unit. The outstanding features of the system are as follows: The equipment and components are modularized and designed to be of the most compact size and the quality control functions are performed by an advanced centralized control system. The authors discuss how, as a result of the full-scale testing, it has been confirmed that this system satisfies all the performance requirements for the inspection of disposal packages
An integrated automatic system for the eddy-current testing of the steam generator tubes
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Woo, Hee Gon; Choi, Seong Su [Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), Taejon (Korea, Republic of). Research Center
1995-12-31
This research project was focused on automation of steam generator tubes inspection for nuclear power plants. ECT (Eddy Current Testing) inspection process in nuclear power plants is classified into 3 subprocesses such as signal acquisition process, signal evaluation process, and inspection planning and data management process. Having been automated individually, these processes were effectively integrated into an automatic inspection system, which was implemented in HP workstation with expert system developed (author). 25 refs., 80 figs.
An integrated automatic system for the eddy-current testing of the steam generator tubes
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Woo, Hee Gon; Choi, Seong Su [Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), Taejon (Korea, Republic of). Research Center
1996-12-31
This research project was focused on automation of steam generator tubes inspection for nuclear power plants. ECT (Eddy Current Testing) inspection process in nuclear power plants is classified into 3 subprocesses such as signal acquisition process, signal evaluation process, and inspection planning and data management process. Having been automated individually, these processes were effectively integrated into an automatic inspection system, which was implemented in HP workstation with expert system developed (author). 25 refs., 80 figs.
Development of remote automatic equipment for BWR power plants
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sasaki, Masayoshi
1984-01-01
The development of remote control, automatic equipment for nuclear power stations has been promoted to raise the rate of operation of plants by shortening regular inspection period, to improve the safety and reliability of inspection and maintenance works by mechanization, to reduce the radiation exposure dose of workers and to reduce the manpower required for works. The taking-off of control rod drives from reactors and fixing again have been mechanized, but the disassembling, cleaning, inspection and assembling of control rod drives are manually carried out. Therefore, Hitachi Ltd. has exerted effort to develop the automatic equipment for this purpose. The target of development, investigation, the construction and function of the equipment, the performance and the effect of adopting it are reported. The equipment for the volume reduction of spent fuel channel boxes and spent control rods is developed since these are major high level radioactive solid wastes, and their apparent volume is large. Also the target of development, investigated things, the construction and function of the equipment, the performance and the effect of adopting it are reported. (Kako, I.)
Laser scanning camera inspects hazardous area
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fryatt, A.; Miprode, C.
1985-01-01
Main operational characteristics of a new laser scanning camera are presented. The camera is intended primarily for low level high resolution viewing inside nuclear reactors. It uses a He-Ne laser beam raster; by detecting the reflected light by means of a phomultiplier, the subject under observation can be reconstructed in an electronic video store and reviewed on a conventional monitor screen
Buschinelli, Pedro D. V.; Melo, João. Ricardo C.; Albertazzi, Armando; Santos, João. M. C.; Camerini, Claudio S.
2013-04-01
An axis-symmetrical optical laser triangulation system was developed by the authors to measure the inner geometry of long pipes used in the oil industry. It has a special optical configuration able to acquire shape information of the inner geometry of a section of a pipe from a single image frame. A collimated laser beam is pointed to the tip of a 45° conical mirror. The laser light is reflected in such a way that a radial light sheet is formed and intercepts the inner geometry and forms a bright laser line on a section of the inspected pipe. A camera acquires the image of the laser line through a wide angle lens. An odometer-based triggering system is used to shot the camera to acquire a set of equally spaced images at high speed while the device is moved along the pipe's axis. Image processing is done in real-time (between images acquisitions) thanks to the use of parallel computing technology. The measured geometry is analyzed to identify corrosion damages. The measured geometry and results are graphically presented using virtual reality techniques and devices as 3D glasses and head-mounted displays. The paper describes the measurement principles, calibration strategies, laboratory evaluation of the developed device, as well as, a practical example of a corroded pipe used in an industrial gas production plant.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lauritzen, T.; Sah, R.C.
1979-03-01
A Laser Surveying System has been developed to survey the beam elements of the PEP storage ring. This system provides automatic data acquisition and analysis in order to increase survey speed and to minimize operator error. Two special instruments, the Automatic Readout Micrometer and the Small Automatic Micrometer, have been built for measuring the locations of fiducial points on beam elements with respect to the light beam from a laser. These instruments automatically encode offset distances and read them into the memory of an on-line computer. Distances along the beam line are automatically encoded with a third instrument, the Automatic Readout Tape Unit. When measurements of several beam elements have been taken, the on-line computer analyzes the measured data, compared them with desired parameters, and calculates the required adjustments to beam element support stands
Speckle reduction for a laser light sectioning sensor
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tutsch Rainer
2015-01-01
Full Text Available Automated optical inspection is an important test procedure in electronic circuits assembly. Frequently 3d information is required and laser light sectioning sensors are often applied. However, some effects complicate the reliable automatic detection of the shape of such assemblies and their components. The packages of electronic components often are made of black plastics or ceramics so that the intensity available for the optical detection is quite low, especially in comparison to the surface of the PCBs where the components are mounted on. In addition due to rough surfaces of the components and the coherence length of the laser light speckle structures arise. In the work presented here a piezo actuator is used to oscillate the illuminating laser lines along the direction of the lines. The aim is to reduce the visibility of the speckle structures by averaging while maintaining the geometrical shape of the lines. In addition, image processing methods like segmentation and skeletonization are used to allow the detection of the shape of components and assemblies also if materials with distinct differences in the reflectivity are involved. Investigations include the influence of the parameters amplitude and frequency of the piezo actuator.
Optical surface contouring for non-destructive inspection of turbomachinery
Modarress, Dariush; Schaack, David F.
1994-03-01
Detection of stress cracks and other surface defects during maintenance and in-service inspection of propulsion system components, including turbine blades and combustion compartments, is presently performed visually. There is a need for a non-contact, miniaturized, and fully fieldable instrument that may be used as an automated inspection tool for inspection of aircraft engines. During this SBIR Phase 1 program, the feasibility of a ruggedized optical probe for automatic and nondestructive inspection of complex shaped objects will be established. Through a careful analysis of the measurement requirements, geometrical and optical constraints, and consideration of issues such as manufacturability, compactness, simplicity, and cost, one or more conceptual optical designs will be developed. The proposed concept will be further developed and a prototype will be fabricated during Phase 2.
Some results of automatic processing of images
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Golenishchev, I.A.; Gracheva, T.N.; Khardikov, S.V.
1975-01-01
The problems of automatic deciphering of the radiographic picture the purpose of which is making a conclusion concerning the quality of the inspected product on the basis of the product defect images in the picture are considered. The methods of defect image recognition are listed, and the algorithms and the class features of defects are described. The results of deciphering of a small radiographic picture by means of the ''Minsk-22'' computer are presented. It is established that the sensitivity of the method of the automatic deciphering is close to that obtained for visual deciphering
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Schneider, Guilherme A.; Felisberto, Marcelo K.; Pilkel, Lucas V.; Centeno, Tania M.; Arruda, Lucia V.R. [Centro Federal de Educacao Tecnologica do Parana (CEFET-PR), Curitiba, PR (Brazil). Curso de Pos-graduacao em Engenharia Eletrica e Informatica (CPGEI). Lab. de Automacao e Sistemas de Controle Avancado
2004-07-01
The reliability and integrity evaluation of structures and equipment on the petroleum and gas industry is an absolute necessary care due to economic reasons and safety. As a consequence, new supporting technologies for well known nondestructive test and evaluation methods have been developed in order to automate these inspection processes, improving their robustness, accuracy and quickness. On this way, the present work introduces solutions to overcome some obstacles to the automation of the radiographic image analysis task for the pipeline weld joint inspection, on radiographic non-destructive tests and evaluations. The main contributions are related to the improvements to techniques for the automatic weld bean segmentation and the development of an effective algorithm for the weld bean defect detection and extraction of relevant defect descriptors. (author)
Automatic tuning of free electron lasers
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Agapov, Ilya; Zagorodnov, Igor [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany); Geloni, Gianluca [European XFEL, Schenefeld (Germany); Tomin, Sergey [European XFEL, Schenefeld (Germany); NRC Kurchatov Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation)
2017-04-07
Existing FEL facilities often suffer from stability issues: so electron orbit, transverse electron optics, electron bunch compression and other parameters have to be readjusted often to account for drifts in performance of various components. The tuning procedures typically employed in operation are often manual and lengthy. We have been developing a combination of model-free and model-based automatic tuning methods to meet the needs of present and upcoming XFEL facilities. Our approach has been implemented at FLASH to achieve automatic SASE tuning using empirical control of orbit, electron optics and bunch compression. In this paper we describe our approach to empirical tuning, the software which implements it, and the results of using it at FLASH.We also discuss the potential of using machine learning and model-based techniques in tuning methods.
Automatic tuning of free electron lasers
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Agapov, Ilya; Zagorodnov, Igor; Geloni, Gianluca; Tomin, Sergey
2017-01-01
Existing FEL facilities often suffer from stability issues: so electron orbit, transverse electron optics, electron bunch compression and other parameters have to be readjusted often to account for drifts in performance of various components. The tuning procedures typically employed in operation are often manual and lengthy. We have been developing a combination of model-free and model-based automatic tuning methods to meet the needs of present and upcoming XFEL facilities. Our approach has been implemented at FLASH to achieve automatic SASE tuning using empirical control of orbit, electron optics and bunch compression. In this paper we describe our approach to empirical tuning, the software which implements it, and the results of using it at FLASH.We also discuss the potential of using machine learning and model-based techniques in tuning methods.
Development of automatic pre-tracking system for fillet weld based on laser trigonometry
Shen, Xiaoqin; Yu, Fusheng
2005-01-01
In this paper, an automatic fillet weld pre-tracking system for welding the work piece of lorry back boards with several bend in haul automobile is developed basing on laser trigonometry. The optical measuring head based on laser-PSD trigonometry is used as position sensor. It is placed in front of the traveling direction of welding wire to get the distances from welding wire to the two side boards of the welding lines, upper board and bottom board of the fillet weld respectively. A chip of AT89S52 is used as the micro controller in this system. The AC servomotors, ball-screws and straight guide rails constitute the sliding table to take welding wire move. The laser-PSD sensors pass through the vertical board, upper board and bottom board of the fillet weld when welding wire moves and then get the distance. The laser-PSD sensors output the analog signals. After A/D conversion, the digital signal is input into AT89S52 and calculated. Then the information of the position and lateral deviation of the welding wire when welding a certain position are gotten to control welding wires. So the weld pre-tracking for welding the work piece with long distance and large bend in haul automobile is realized. The position information is input into EEPROM to be saved for short time after handled by AT89S52. The information is as the welding position information as well as the speed adjusting data of the welding wire when it welds the several bend of the work piece. The practice indicates that this system has high pre-tracking precision, good anti-disturb ability, excellent reliability, easy operating ability and good adaptability to the field of production.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ishii, Kazunari; Kono, Atsushi K.; Sasaki, Hiroki; Miyamoto, Naokazu; Fukuda, Tetsuya; Sakamoto, Setsu; Mori, Etsuro
2006-01-01
The purpose of this study was to design a fully automatic computer-assisted diagnostic system for early- and late-onset mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Glucose metabolic images were obtained from mild AD patients and normal controls using positron emission tomography (PET) and 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Two groups of 20 mild AD patients with different ages of onset were examined. A fully automatic diagnostic system using the statistical brain mapping method was established from the early-onset (EO) and late-onset (LO) groups, with mean ages of 59.1 and 70.9 years and mean MMSE scores of 23.3 and 22.8, respectively. Aged-matched normal subjects were used as controls. We compared the diagnostic performance of visual inspection of conventional axial FDG PET images by experts and beginners with that of our fully automatic diagnostic system in another 15 EO and 15 LO AD patients (mean age 58.4 and 71.7, mean MMSE 23.6 and 23.1, respectively) and 30 age-matched normal controls. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to compare data. The diagnostic performance of the automatic diagnostic system was comparable with that of visual inspection by experts. The area under the ROC curve for the automatic diagnostic system was 0.967 for EO AD patients and 0.878 for LO AD patients. The mean area under the ROC curve for visual inspection by experts was 0.863 and 0.881 for the EO and LO AD patients, respectively. The mean area under the ROC curve for visual inspection by beginners was 0.828 and 0.717, respectively. The fully automatic diagnostic system for EO and LO AD was able to perform at a similar diagnostic level to visual inspection of conventional axial images by experts. (orig.)
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
F.
2012-04-01
Full Text Available In this paper we propose a new approach for laser-based environment device control systems based on the automatic design of a Fuzzy Rule-Based System for laser pointer detection. The idea is to improve the success rate of the previous approaches decreasing as much as possible the false offs and increasing the success rate in images with laser spot, i.e., the detection of a false laser spot (since this could lead to dangerous situations. To this end, we propose to analyze both, the morphology and color of a laser spot image together, thus developing a new robust algorithm. Genetic Fuzzy Systems have also been employed to improve the laser spot system detection by means of a fine tuning of the involved membership functions thus reducing the system false offs, which is the main objective in this problem. The system presented in this paper, makes use of a Fuzzy Rule-Based System adjusted by a Genetic Algorithm, which, based on laser morphology and color analysis, shows a better success rate than previous approaches.
Inspection device for fuel rod restraint by support lattice of fuel assembly
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hasegawa, Isao; Senga, Masatoshi; Kada, Mitoshi.
1991-01-01
An inspection operation section for disposing fuel assembly vertically at predetermined positions, a control section wired therewith, a moving operation section movable in the direction of X, Y and Z axes by a driving signal sent from the control section are disposed to an inspection section main body. A downward bore scope and a upward bore scope, each of such a size as can be inserted to the gaps between the fuel rods, are disposed while opposing to each other for observing the inside of each of cells from above and below in support lattices of fuel assemblies. High performance television cameras are disposed to each of bore scopes to supply images to monitoring televisions in the control section. Thus, a displacing operation section of the inspection operation section is automatically controlled three-dimensionally, the downward bore scope and the upward bore scope are integrally intruded to the inside of the gaps between the predetermined fuel rods from a required height and stopped at a predetermined position, mounted automatically to a required cell of the support lattice to efficiently observe and inspect the fuel rod restraint. (N.H.)
A Method for Automatic Inspection of Printed Circuit Boards by Using the Thermal Signature
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Amer, H.H.; Zekry, A.A.; Elaraby, S.; Ghareeb, K.E.
2012-01-01
This paper aims to design a system for automating inspection of the printed circuit boards (PCBs) by using the thermal signature of the different integrated circuits (I.C). The proposed inspection system consists of the inspection circuit, data acquisition system (DAS) and personal computer. Inspection is done by comparing the thermal signature of normally operated circuit with the thermal signature of circuit under test. One thermistor is assigned to each component in the circuit. The thermistor must touch tightly the surface of the I.C. to sense its temperature during the inspection process. Matlab software is used to represent the thermal signature through different colors. The Turbo C software is used to develop a program for acquiring and comparing the thermal signature of the circuit under the test with the reference circuit. If the colors of the two thermal signatures for the same I.C. are same then the circuit under test is fault free and does not contain any defect. On the other side, if the colors of the two thermal signatures for the same I.C. are different then the circuit under test is defective
Automatic schema evolution in Root
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Brun, R.; Rademakers, F.
2001-01-01
ROOT version 3 (spring 2001) supports automatic class schema evolution. In addition this version also produces files that are self-describing. This is achieved by storing in each file a record with the description of all the persistent classes in the file. Being self-describing guarantees that a file can always be read later, its structure browsed and objects inspected, also when the library with the compiled code of these classes is missing. The schema evolution mechanism supports the frequent case when multiple data sets generated with many different class versions must be analyzed in the same session. ROOT supports the automatic generation of C++ code describing the data objects in a file
Automated optics inspection analysis for NIF
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kegelmeyer, Laura M.; Clark, Raelyn; Leach, Richard R.; McGuigan, David; Kamm, Victoria Miller; Potter, Daniel; Salmon, J. Thad; Senecal, Joshua; Conder, Alan; Nostrand, Mike; Whitman, Pamela K.
2012-01-01
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a high-energy laser facility comprised of 192 beamlines that house thousands of optics. These optics guide, amplify and tightly focus light onto a tiny target for fusion ignition research and high energy density physics experiments. The condition of these optics is key to the economic, efficient and maximally energetic performance of the laser. Our goal, and novel achievement, is to find on the optics any imperfections while they are tens of microns in size, track them through time to see if they grow and if so, remove the optic and repair the single site so the entire optic can then be re-installed for further use on the laser. This paper gives an overview of the image analysis used for detecting, measuring, and tracking sites of interest on an optic while it is installed on the beamline via in situ inspection and after it has been removed for maintenance. In this way, the condition of each optic is monitored throughout the optic's lifetime. This overview paper will summarize key algorithms and technical developments for custom image analysis and processing and highlight recent improvements. (Associated papers will include more details on these issues.) We will also discuss the use of OI Analysis for daily operation of the NIF laser and its extension to inspection of NIF targets.
Automated optics inspection analysis for NIF
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kegelmeyer, Laura M., E-mail: kegelmeyer1@llnl.gov [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA (United States); Clark, Raelyn; Leach, Richard R.; McGuigan, David; Kamm, Victoria Miller; Potter, Daniel; Salmon, J. Thad; Senecal, Joshua; Conder, Alan; Nostrand, Mike; Whitman, Pamela K. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA (United States)
2012-12-15
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a high-energy laser facility comprised of 192 beamlines that house thousands of optics. These optics guide, amplify and tightly focus light onto a tiny target for fusion ignition research and high energy density physics experiments. The condition of these optics is key to the economic, efficient and maximally energetic performance of the laser. Our goal, and novel achievement, is to find on the optics any imperfections while they are tens of microns in size, track them through time to see if they grow and if so, remove the optic and repair the single site so the entire optic can then be re-installed for further use on the laser. This paper gives an overview of the image analysis used for detecting, measuring, and tracking sites of interest on an optic while it is installed on the beamline via in situ inspection and after it has been removed for maintenance. In this way, the condition of each optic is monitored throughout the optic's lifetime. This overview paper will summarize key algorithms and technical developments for custom image analysis and processing and highlight recent improvements. (Associated papers will include more details on these issues.) We will also discuss the use of OI Analysis for daily operation of the NIF laser and its extension to inspection of NIF targets.
Longitudinal wave ultrasonic inspection of austenitic weldments
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gray, B.S.; Hudgell, R.J.; Seed, H.
1980-01-01
Successful volumetric inspection of LMFBR primary circuits, and also much of the secondary circuit, is dependent on the availability of satisfactory examination procedures for austenitic welds. Application of conventional ultrasonic techniques is hampered by the anisotropic, textured structure of the weld metal and this paper describes development work on the use of longitudinal wave techniques. In addition to confirming the dominant effects of the weld structure on ultrasound propagation some results are given of studies utilising deliberately induced defects in Manual Metal Arc Welds in 50 mm plate together with preliminary work on the inspection of narrow austenitic welds fabricated by automatic processes. (author)
Image acquisition, transmission and assignment in 60Co container inspection system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wu Zhifang; Zhou Liye; Liu Ximing; Wang Liqiang
1999-01-01
The author describes the data acquisition mode and image reconstruction method in 60 Co container inspection system, analyzes the relationship between line pick period and geometry distortion, makes clear the demand to data transmitting rate. It discusses several data communication methods, draws up a plan for network, realizes automatic direction and reasonable assignment of data in the system, cooperation of multi-computer and parallel processing, thus greatly improves the systems inspection efficiency
An overview of in-service inspection for nuclear power plants in Japan
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Takano, Eishiro
1996-01-01
In nuclear power stations, for maintaining the safety of machinery and equipment, it is stipulated to carry out periodic inspection. The contents of the periodic inspection and the inspections of important matters are explained. In-service inspection (ISI) is the nondestructive inspection for confirming the soundness of reactor pressure vessels, main pipings, valves and others. The stipulations on the scope and time of the periodic inspection and ISI, the course of introducing ISI into Japan, and the basic way of thinking on ISI are described. Pre-service inspection (PSI) is carried out for the purpose of collecting and recording the initial data for ISI. The range of the objects of nondestructive inspection and leak test and the range of the objects of leak test only are shown. As to nondestructive inspection, the parts to be inspected, the frequency of inspection and the methods of inspection, and the method of leak test are described. As the present state of inspection technology, the automatic ultrasonic flow detectors for reactor vessels, piping welded parts and reactor vessel stud bolts, and the eddy current flaw detector for steam generator tubes are explained. (K.I.)
Vision Based Autonomous Robotic Control for Advanced Inspection and Repair
Wehner, Walter S.
2014-01-01
The advanced inspection system is an autonomous control and analysis system that improves the inspection and remediation operations for ground and surface systems. It uses optical imaging technology with intelligent computer vision algorithms to analyze physical features of the real-world environment to make decisions and learn from experience. The advanced inspection system plans to control a robotic manipulator arm, an unmanned ground vehicle and cameras remotely, automatically and autonomously. There are many computer vision, image processing and machine learning techniques available as open source for using vision as a sensory feedback in decision-making and autonomous robotic movement. My responsibilities for the advanced inspection system are to create a software architecture that integrates and provides a framework for all the different subsystem components; identify open-source algorithms and techniques; and integrate robot hardware.
Nuclear fuel rod end plug weld inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Parker, M. A.; Patrick, S. S.; Rice, G. F.
1985-01-01
Apparatus and method for testing TIG (tungsten inert gas) welds of end plugs on a sealed nuclear reactor fuel rod. An X-ray fluorescent spectrograph testing unit detects tungsten inclusion weld defects in the top end plug's seal weld. Separate ultrasonic weld inspection system testing units test the top end plug's seal and girth welds and test the bottom end plug's girth weld for penetration, porosity and wall thinning defects. The nuclear fuel rod is automatically moved into and out from each testing unit and is automatically transported between the testing units by rod handling devices. A controller supervises the operation of the testing units and the rod handling devices
Development of In-situation radioactivity Inspection system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Min, Sujung; Lee, Sanghun; Kim, Miyoung; Kim, Myungjin; Lee, Unjang; Park, Jungkyun
2015-01-01
Many Korean people worry about radioactive contamination of Japanese and Korean marine products. Radioactive contamination of processed foodstuffs, livestock, marine products, farm products imported from Japan and fishes caught in coastal waters of Korea has become an important social issue. Radioactivity inspections of those foods are executed manually with portable measuring instruments or at labs using their samples. In consequence, there are some problem of time delay and low reliability. To protect the health of citizens from radioactivity contained in Japanese marine products imported to Korea, a system to inspect radioactivity in real time will be developed. The system is to measure the radioactivity level of farm and marine products continuously and automatically at inspection sites of an agency checking radiation of imported foodstuffs to determine radioactive contamination. Product performance assessment and tests will be conducted later. When the system develops and its commercialization begins, people's anxiety about radioactive contamination of foods after the Fukushima nuclear accident will be eased and people will be able to trust the radioactive inspection
Development of In-situation radioactivity Inspection system
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Min, Sujung; Lee, Sanghun; Kim, Miyoung; Kim, Myungjin; Lee, Unjang [ORIONENC Co., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Jungkyun [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)
2015-05-15
Many Korean people worry about radioactive contamination of Japanese and Korean marine products. Radioactive contamination of processed foodstuffs, livestock, marine products, farm products imported from Japan and fishes caught in coastal waters of Korea has become an important social issue. Radioactivity inspections of those foods are executed manually with portable measuring instruments or at labs using their samples. In consequence, there are some problem of time delay and low reliability. To protect the health of citizens from radioactivity contained in Japanese marine products imported to Korea, a system to inspect radioactivity in real time will be developed. The system is to measure the radioactivity level of farm and marine products continuously and automatically at inspection sites of an agency checking radiation of imported foodstuffs to determine radioactive contamination. Product performance assessment and tests will be conducted later. When the system develops and its commercialization begins, people's anxiety about radioactive contamination of foods after the Fukushima nuclear accident will be eased and people will be able to trust the radioactive inspection.
Remote-automation of nuclear power plant equipment inspection and maintenance
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sasaki, Masayoshi; Kawamura, Hironobu; Nakano, Yoshiyuki; Izumi, Shigeru.
1984-01-01
The remotely operated automation of the checkup and maintenance of nuclear power generation facilities has largely contributed to the rise of capacity ratio of plants due to the shortening of regular inspection period and to the reduction of radiation exposure dose during working, the labor saving in working and so on. In this paper, the new technologies adopted in an automatic fuel exchanger, a remotely operated automatic CRD exchanger, a new type channel handling machine, pressure-withstanding main steam line plugs and so on for No.2 plant in the Fukushima No.2 Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc., are reported. Besides, the state of development of new remotely operated automatic machines for nuclear power use, such as CRD disassembling and cleaning device, volume reduction equipment for spent fuel channel boxes and control rods, multi-functional robots for use under high radiation and so on is described. Also the trend of development of latest robot technology which will be put in practical use in near future is outlined, such as a running manipulator for checkup and inspection, a variable form crawler vehicle and a five-leg movable manipulator. (Kako, I.)
Cong Peng
2002-01-01
The sup 6 sup 0 Co railway cargo inspection system has super automaticity. And the monitoring unit is an important part of the automatic control system. The author introduces the idea of designing the monitoring unit in detail and accomplishes a new-style unit which is different from the traditional one. The monitoring unit which is highly integrated, easy to be mounted and debugged and convenient to be operated and maintained has play an excellent role in the work of the whole inspection system
Automatic interpretation and writing report of the adult waking electroencephalogram.
Shibasaki, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Masatoshi; Sugi, Takenao; Nishida, Shigeto; Nagamine, Takashi; Ikeda, Akio
2014-06-01
Automatic interpretation of the EEG has so far been faced with significant difficulties because of a large amount of spatial as well as temporal information contained in the EEG, continuous fluctuation of the background activity depending on changes in the subject's vigilance and attention level, the occurrence of paroxysmal activities such as spikes and spike-and-slow-waves, contamination of the EEG with a variety of artefacts and the use of different recording electrodes and montages. Therefore, previous attempts of automatic EEG interpretation have been focussed only on a specific EEG feature such as paroxysmal abnormalities, delta waves, sleep stages and artefact detection. As a result of a long-standing cooperation between clinical neurophysiologists and system engineers, we report for the first time on a comprehensive, computer-assisted, automatic interpretation of the adult waking EEG. This system analyses the background activity, intermittent abnormalities, artefacts and the level of vigilance and attention of the subject, and automatically presents its report in written form. Besides, it also detects paroxysmal abnormalities and evaluates the effects of intermittent photic stimulation and hyperventilation on the EEG. This system of automatic EEG interpretation was formed by adopting the strategy that the qualified EEGers employ for the systematic visual inspection. This system can be used as a supplementary tool for the EEGer's visual inspection, and for educating EEG trainees and EEG technicians. Copyright © 2014 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Automatic Beam Path Analysis of Laser Wakefield Particle Acceleration Data
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Rubel, Oliver; Geddes, Cameron G.R.; Cormier-Michel, Estelle; Wu, Kesheng; Prabhat,; Weber, Gunther H.; Ushizima, Daniela M.; Messmer, Peter; Hagen, Hans; Hamann, Bernd; Bethel, E. Wes
2009-10-19
Numerical simulations of laser wakefield particle accelerators play a key role in the understanding of the complex acceleration process and in the design of expensive experimental facilities. As the size and complexity of simulation output grows, an increasingly acute challenge is the practical need for computational techniques that aid in scientific knowledge discovery. To that end, we present a set of data-understanding algorithms that work in concert in a pipeline fashion to automatically locate and analyze high energy particle bunches undergoing acceleration in very large simulation datasets. These techniques work cooperatively by first identifying features of interest in individual timesteps, then integrating features across timesteps, and based on the information derived perform analysis of temporally dynamic features. This combination of techniques supports accurate detection of particle beams enabling a deeper level of scientific understanding of physical phenomena than hasbeen possible before. By combining efficient data analysis algorithms and state-of-the-art data management we enable high-performance analysis of extremely large particle datasets in 3D. We demonstrate the usefulness of our methods for a variety of 2D and 3D datasets and discuss the performance of our analysis pipeline.
Automatic Road Sign Inventory Using Mobile Mapping Systems
Soilán, M.; Riveiro, B.; Martínez-Sánchez, J.; Arias, P.
2016-06-01
The periodic inspection of certain infrastructure features plays a key role for road network safety and preservation, and for developing optimal maintenance planning that minimize the life-cycle cost of the inspected features. Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS) use laser scanner technology in order to collect dense and precise three-dimensional point clouds that gather both geometric and radiometric information of the road network. Furthermore, time-stamped RGB imagery that is synchronized with the MMS trajectory is also available. In this paper a methodology for the automatic detection and classification of road signs from point cloud and imagery data provided by a LYNX Mobile Mapper System is presented. First, road signs are detected in the point cloud. Subsequently, the inventory is enriched with geometrical and contextual data such as orientation or distance to the trajectory. Finally, semantic content is given to the detected road signs. As point cloud resolution is insufficient, RGB imagery is used projecting the 3D points in the corresponding images and analysing the RGB data within the bounding box defined by the projected points. The methodology was tested in urban and road environments in Spain, obtaining global recall results greater than 95%, and F-score greater than 90%. In this way, inventory data is obtained in a fast, reliable manner, and it can be applied to improve the maintenance planning of the road network, or to feed a Spatial Information System (SIS), thus, road sign information can be available to be used in a Smart City context.
AUTOMATIC ROAD SIGN INVENTORY USING MOBILE MAPPING SYSTEMS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M. Soilán
2016-06-01
Full Text Available The periodic inspection of certain infrastructure features plays a key role for road network safety and preservation, and for developing optimal maintenance planning that minimize the life-cycle cost of the inspected features. Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS use laser scanner technology in order to collect dense and precise three-dimensional point clouds that gather both geometric and radiometric information of the road network. Furthermore, time-stamped RGB imagery that is synchronized with the MMS trajectory is also available. In this paper a methodology for the automatic detection and classification of road signs from point cloud and imagery data provided by a LYNX Mobile Mapper System is presented. First, road signs are detected in the point cloud. Subsequently, the inventory is enriched with geometrical and contextual data such as orientation or distance to the trajectory. Finally, semantic content is given to the detected road signs. As point cloud resolution is insufficient, RGB imagery is used projecting the 3D points in the corresponding images and analysing the RGB data within the bounding box defined by the projected points. The methodology was tested in urban and road environments in Spain, obtaining global recall results greater than 95%, and F-score greater than 90%. In this way, inventory data is obtained in a fast, reliable manner, and it can be applied to improve the maintenance planning of the road network, or to feed a Spatial Information System (SIS, thus, road sign information can be available to be used in a Smart City context.
Development of the module inspection system for new standardized radiation monitoring modules
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Furukawa, Masami; Shimizu, Kazuaki; Hiruta, Toshihito; Mizugaki, Toshio; Ohi, Yoshihiro; Chida, Tooru.
1994-10-01
This report mentions about the module inspection system which does the maintenance check of the monitoring modules adapted the new monitoring standard, as well as the result of the verification of the modules. The module inspection system is the automatic measurement system with the computer. The system can perform the functional and the characteristic examination of the monitoring modules, the calibration with radiation source and inspection report. In the verification of the monitoring module, three major items were tested, the adaptability for the new monitoring standard, the module functions and each characteristics. All items met the new monitoring standard. (author)
Automated ultrasonic inspection of IGSCC in DOE production reactor process water piping
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Harrison, J.M.; Sprayberry, R.; Ehrhart, W.
1987-01-01
Inspection of nuclear power components has always presented difficulties to the nondestructive testing (NDT) industry from a time consumption and radiation exposure standpoint. Recent advances in computerized NDT equipment have improved the situation to some extent; however, the need for high reliability, precision, reproducibility, and clear permanent documentation are indispensable requirements that can only be met by automatic inspection and recording systems. The Savannah River Plant's inspection program of over 1000 IGSCC-susceptible welds is one of the most complete in the country and offers educational insight into ultrasonic examination technology of thin-wall stainless steel pipe welds
Principles of alignment of multibeam lasers for thermonuclear purposes
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Basovy, N.G.; Ol'shevskii, Y.N.; Belyan, V.F.
1980-01-01
The concrete object of the investigation is the alignment of the high-power 12-channel ''Del'fin'' neodymium-glass laser facilaity. The objects of the alignment are the optical channel of the laser installation, the system for pointing and focusing the laser radiation on the target, the system for positioning the target in the focal volume, and the system for monitoring the optical quality of the elements of the laser installation and laser beams and also the conditions of the target irradiation in the vacuum chamber. The list of requirements that must be satisfied by the alignment beams, the possible sources of alignment beams, the makeup of the apparatus, and the methods of aligning the laser facility are considered. The principles and the actual systems of automatic alignment of the optical elements are described, as are the operating models of the automatized units. The problem of simulating the working laser beams by the alignment beams and the possibility of automatizing the control of the spatial and angular characteristics of the laser radiation are discussed. The system for controlling the alignment processes by means of a laser is considered, as it also a scheme for incorporating the automatized alignment subsystem in the overall system for the automation of the ''Del'fin'' facility
Robotic inspection of nuclear waste storage facilities
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fulbright, R.; Stephens, L.M.
1995-01-01
The University of South Carolina and the Westinghouse Savannah River Company have developed a prototype mobile robot designed to perform autonomous inspection of nuclear waste storage facilities. The Stored Waste Autonomous Mobile Inspector (SWAMI) navigates and inspects rows of nuclear waste storage drums, in isles as narrow as 34 inches with drums stacked three high on each side. SWAMI reads drum barcodes, captures drum images, and monitors floor-level radiation levels. The topics covered in this article reporting on SWAMI include the following: overall system design; typical mission scenario; barcode reader subsystem; video subsystem; radiation monitoring subsystem; position determination subsystem; onboard control system hardware; software development environment; GENISAS, a C++ library; MOSAS, an automatic code generating tool. 10 figs
Optical inspection techniques for security instrumentation
van Renesse, Rudolf L.
1996-03-01
This paper reviews four optical inspection systems, in which development TNO Institute of Applied Physics was involved: (1) intaglio scanning and recognition, (2) banknote quality inspection, (3) visualization and reading of a finger pattern, and (4) 3DAS authentication. (1) Intaglio is reserved for high security printing. It renders a tactile relief that can be recognized by a laser scanning technique. This technique is applied by various national banks to detect counterfeit banknotes returning from circulation. A new system is proposed that will detect intaglio on arbitrary wrinkled banknotes. (2) A banknote fitness inspection system (BFIS) that inspects banknotes in specularly reflected light is described. As modern banknotes are provided increasingly with reflective security foils, a new system is proposed that inspects banknotes in specular and diffuse reflection, as well as in transmission. (3) An alternative visualization method for visualization of finger patterns is described, employing a reflective elastomer. A CD scanning system reads the finger patterns. (4) A nonwoven structure has two advantageous properties for card authentication: a random structure which renders each few square millimeters of the pattern uniqueness (identification) and a 3D structure which makes it virtually impossible to be counterfeited (authentication). Both properties are inspected by an extremely simple lenseless reader.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
1991-03-01
A comprehensive evaluation is made upon completion of the automatic sewing system research and development project. The project aims to achieve a 50% increase in productivity through effective use of a multiple-product/small-amount production scheme in small and medium sewing industries. The intelligent cloth inspecting machine (prior to sewing) in a laser-aided cutting system is as competent as the currently used sewing mill inspection system, and the resultant data are effectively utilized in the cutting process. As for the cutter, it is demonstrated that it is more than two times higher in cutting speed than a currently used laser cutting system; that it is sufficiently accurate in avoiding parts with flaws and in pattern matching; and that it is reliable in complying with process information provided. As for the flexible sewing system, it is acknowledged that it correctly recognizes information attached to cut parts and that it joins them with flexibility in response to changes in the material, pattern, or size. As for the high-technology assembling system, satisfaction is found in its automated 3-dimensional sewing of parts received from the previous stage and in its flow of production. As for the 3-dimensional flexible press, the quality after finish is found satisfying. The said systems are integratedly operated, and it is found that the goal of the research and development has been achieved. (NEDO)
In-service inspection program for the NCS-80 reactor pressure vessel
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Scharge, J.; Wehowsky, P.; Zeibig, H.
1978-01-01
The in-service inspection program of reactor pressure vessels is mainly based on the ultra-sonic method, visual checking of inner and outer surfaces as well as pressure and leak tests. The test procedure require a design of the pressure vessel suitable for the test methods and the possibility to remove the pressure vessel internals. For the outside inspection a gap of sufficient width is mandatory. The present status of the ultra-sonic method and of the inner and outer manipulators affords to conduct the in-service inspection program in form of automatic checkings. The in-service inspection program for NCS-80, the Nuclear Container-Ship design of 80,000 shp, is integrated in the refueling periods due to the request for a high availability of the ship and reactor plant
P-scan, a new system for ultrasonic weld inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lund, S.A.; Iversen, S.E.; Holst, H.
1978-01-01
The P-scan method is explained. It is described how the new P-scan system improves the ultrasonic method by adding means for visualization, data storage and documentation. Three different scanners are described: One designed for manual operation, another for automatic operation and a third for semiautomatic operation. The p'scan image of an ultrasonically examined test plate is presented and discussed. The variable Display Level (i.e. the inspection sensitivity) facility is described. The main advantage of this facility is the fact that the level can be varied at any time after the inspection. (orig.) [de
Application of polarization in high speed, high contrast inspection
Novak, Matthew J.
2017-08-01
Industrial optical inspection often requires high speed and high throughput of materials. Engineers use a variety of techniques to handle these inspection needs. Some examples include line scan cameras, high speed multi-spectral and laser-based systems. High-volume manufacturing presents different challenges for inspection engineers. For example, manufacturers produce some components in quantities of millions per month, per week or even per day. Quality control of so many parts requires creativity to achieve the measurement needs. At times, traditional vision systems lack the contrast to provide the data required. In this paper, we show how dynamic polarization imaging captures high contrast images. These images are useful for engineers to perform inspection tasks in some cases where optical contrast is low. We will cover basic theory of polarization. We show how to exploit polarization as a contrast enhancement technique. We also show results of modeling for a polarization inspection application. Specifically, we explore polarization techniques for inspection of adhesives on glass.
Machine vision method for online surface inspection of easy open can ends
Mariño, Perfecto; Pastoriza, Vicente; Santamaría, Miguel
2006-10-01
Easy open can end manufacturing process in the food canning sector currently makes use of a manual, non-destructive testing procedure to guarantee can end repair coating quality. This surface inspection is based on a visual inspection made by human inspectors. Due to the high production rate (100 to 500 ends per minute) only a small part of each lot is verified (statistical sampling), then an automatic, online, inspection system, based on machine vision, has been developed to improve this quality control. The inspection system uses a fuzzy model to make the acceptance/rejection decision for each can end from the information obtained by the vision sensor. In this work, the inspection method is presented. This surface inspection system checks the total production, classifies the ends in agreement with an expert human inspector, supplies interpretability to the operators in order to find out the failure causes and reduce mean time to repair during failures, and allows to modify the minimum can end repair coating quality.
Optoacoustic temperature determination and automatic coagulation control in rabbits
Schlott, Kerstin; Koinzer, Stefan; Ptaszynski, Lars; Luft, Susanne; Baade, Alex; Bever, Marco; Roider, Johann; Birngruber, Reginald; Brinkmann, Ralf
2011-03-01
Retinal laser photocoagulation is an established treatment method for many retinal diseases like macula edema or diabetic retinopathy. The selection of the laser parameters is so far based on post treatment evaluation of the lesion size and strength. Due to local pigment variations in the fundus and individual transmission the same laser parameters often lead to an overtreatment. Optoacoustic allows a non invasive monitoring of the retinal temperature increase during retinal laser irradiation by measuring the temperature dependent pressure amplitudes, which are induced by short probe laser pulses. A 75 ns/ 523 nm Nd:YLF was used as a probe laser at a repetition rate of 1 kHz, and a cw / 532 nm treatment laser for heating. A contact lens was modified with a ring-shaped ultrasonic transducer to detect the pressure waves at the cornea. Temperatures were collected for irradiations leading to soft or invisible lesions. Based on this data the threshold for denaturation was found. By analyzing the initial temperature increase, the further temperature development during irradiation could be predicted. An algorithm was found to calculate the irradiation time, which is needed for a soft lesion formation, from the temperature curve. By this it was possible to provide a real-time dosimetry by automatically switching off the treatment laser after the calculated irradiation time. Automatically controlled coagulations appear softer and more uniformly.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Park, Seung Kyu; Park, Nak Kyu; Baik, Sung Hoon; Lee, Yoon Sang; Cheong, Yong Moo; Kang, Young June
2012-01-01
Plate type nuclear fuel has been adopted in most research reactors. The production quality of the fuel is a key part for an efficient and stable generation of thermal energy in research reactors. Thus, a nondestructive quality inspection for the internal defects of plate type nuclear fuel is a key process during the production of nuclear fuel for safety insurance. Nondestructive quality inspections based on X rays and ultrasounds have been widely used for the defect detection of plate type nuclear fuel. X ray testing is a simple and fast inspection method, and provides an image in real time as the inspection results. Thus, the testing can be carried out by a non expert field worker. However, it is hard to detect closed type defects that should be detected during the production of plate type nuclear fuel. Ultrasonic testing is a powerful tool to detect internal defects including open type and closed type defects in plate type nuclear fuel. However, the inspection process is complicated because an immersion test should be carried out in a water tank. It is also a time consuming inspection method because area testing to acquire image is based on the scanning of the point by point inspections. Among nondestructive inspection techniques, the techniques based on laser interferometry and infrared thermography have been widely used in the detection of internal defects of plate type composite materials, such as aircraft, automotive etc. While infrared thermography technique (IRT) analyses the thermal behavior of the specimen surface, laser interferometry technique (LIT) analyses the deformation field. Both techniques are useful tools for detection and evaluation of internal defects in composite materials. Especially, the laser interferometry technique can provide the depth information of internal defects. Laser interferometry technique (LIT) is a non contact inspection method faster than thermography. Also, this technique requires less energy than thermography and the
Applicability evaluation of eddy current testing for underwater laser beam welding
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kobayashi, Noriyasu; Kasuya, Takashi; Ueno, Souichi; Ochiai, Makoto; Yuguchi, Yasuhiro
2010-01-01
We clarified a defect detecting capability of eddy current testing (ECT) as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding. An underwater laser beam welding procedure includes groove caving as a preparation, laser beam welding in groove and welding surface grinding as a post treatment. Therefore groove and grinded welding surface inspections are required underwater. We curried out defect detection tests using three kinds of specimens simulated a groove, reactor vessel nozzle dissimilar metal welding materials and a laser beam welding material with a cross coil ECT probe. From experimental results, we confirmed that it is possible to detect 0.3 mm or more depth electro-discharge machining slits on machining surfaces in all specimens and an ECT has possibility as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding. (author)
Drum inspection robots: Application development
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hazen, F.B.; Warner, R.D.
1996-01-01
Throughout the Department of Energy (DOE), drums containing mixed and low level stored waste are inspected, as mandated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and other regulations. The inspections are intended to prevent leaks by finding corrosion long before the drums are breached. The DOE Office of Science and Technology (OST) has sponsored efforts towards the development of robotic drum inspectors. This emerging application for mobile and remote sensing has broad applicability for DOE and commercial waste storage areas. Three full scale robot prototypes have been under development, and another project has prototyped a novel technique to analyze robotically collected drum images. In general, the robots consist of a mobile, self-navigating base vehicle, outfitted with sensor packages so that rust and other corrosion cues can be automatically identified. They promise the potential to lower radiation dose and operator effort required, while improving diligence, consistency, and documentation
An application of ultrasonic inspection system (INER-SCAN) inspecting generator retaining rings
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chen, L.C.; Hwang, S.C.
1994-01-01
The performances of the automatic ultrasonic inspecting and imaging system (INER-SCAN) developed by the NDT laboratory of the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research have been enhanced and much more improved to commercial level. With appropriate rearrangements of software libraries, it is used to inspect generator retaining rings which are critical structural rotor components that support the end-turn regions of the rotor wingings against centrifugal forces. The use of the INER-SCAN provides distinct advantages over other systems in terms of the reliability of inspection and the flexibility of system performance modifications. The INER-SCAN system assists users to select and modify ultrasonic parameters under computer-aided environment. In addition, the INER-SCAN system contains the necessary software functions to image the ultrasonic data (A-SCAN, B-SCAN, B'-SCAN, C-SCAN). The use of the imaging system makes it quite easy to evaluate various test parameters and their effects on the discrimination between geometric and IGSCC reflectors. Through experimental test, it is recognized that the system has powerful detectable capability which can find 0.2mm-depth slight scratch on the inner surface of retaining rings. This system can also be used on different generator retaining rings (different in terms of hidden design features) without the need for access to the dimension of retaining ring
Device for the automatic X-ray testing of welded joints of pipes
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ries, K.; Hannoschieck, K.; Rozic, K.M.; Basler, G.
1979-01-01
The notification flows of the tested pipes determined by the ultrasonic inspection are transmitted to the X-ray film automatic charger in the X-ray test room. The roll table for the pipes from the ultrasonic inspection to the X-ray test room is provided with an arrangement for weld detection and tube lathe, so that the X-ray films can be set on the corresponding spot by means of a cantilever. (RW) [de
Conception and realisation of a system for the automatic alignment of a CO2 laser beam
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Mardon, Nathalie
1983-01-01
The present paper deals with the continuous control of the direction of a CO 2 laser beam, with a view to laser machining. Slow deviations, due to the cavity instability, move away the beam from the focusing system axis. An automatic alignment device acting on the last flat mirror of the optical line has been designed. This mirror is actuated by 2 motors which vary its inclination in 2 directions x,y. The first part of the present paper deals with the alignment principle worked according to the specific constraints to be faced and to the characteristics of the beam. It uses the revolution symmetry of the energy distribution of the beam: 4 thermocouples surrounding the beam on a same circumference yield equals signals if the beam is centered onto the 4 sensors. An angular displacement is characterised by the difference between the signals of 2 opposed detectors. The second part presents the digital feedback system: the divergence or the beam is computed from the differential signal by a coefficient K experimentally valued. The motor commands proceed from optical geometry laws. The filtering of the thermocouple signals is necessary in order to sort the slowly changing signal related to the beam displacement, from the higher frequency signal related to the laser system instability. The system has been implemented on a 16 bit microprocessor. (author) [fr
Advanced metaheuristic algorithms for laser optimization
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Tomizawa, H.
2010-01-01
A laser is one of the most important experimental tools. In synchrotron radiation field, lasers are widely used for experiments with Pump-Probe techniques. Especially for Xray-FELs, a laser has important roles as a seed light source or photo-cathode-illuminating light source to generate a high brightness electron bunch. The controls of laser pulse characteristics are required for many kinds of experiments. However, the laser should be tuned and customized for each requirement by laser experts. The automatic tuning of laser is required to realize with some sophisticated algorithms. The metaheuristic algorithm is one of the useful candidates to find one of the best solutions as acceptable as possible. The metaheuristic laser tuning system is expected to save our human resources and time for the laser preparations. I have shown successful results on a metaheuristic algorithm based on a genetic algorithm to optimize spatial (transverse) laser profiles and a hill climbing method extended with a fuzzy set theory to choose one of the best laser alignments automatically for each experimental requirement. (author)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
1991-03-01
A comprehensive evaluation is made upon completion of the automatic sewing system research and development project. The project aims to achieve a 50% increase in productivity through effective use of a multiple-product/small-amount production scheme in small and medium sewing industries. The intelligent cloth inspecting machine (prior to sewing) in a laser-aided cutting system is as competent as the currently used sewing mill inspection system, and the resultant data are effectively utilized in the cutting process. As for the cutter, it is demonstrated that it is more than two times higher in cutting speed than a currently used laser cutting system; that it is sufficiently accurate in avoiding parts with flaws and in pattern matching; and that it is reliable in complying with process information provided. As for the flexible sewing system, it is acknowledged that it correctly recognizes information attached to cut parts and that it joins them with flexibility in response to changes in the material, pattern, or size. As for the high-technology assembling system, satisfaction is found in its automated 3-dimensional sewing of parts received from the previous stage and in its flow of production. As for the 3-dimensional flexible press, the quality after finish is found satisfying. The said systems are integratedly operated, and it is found that the goal of the research and development has been achieved. (NEDO)
Methodology Investigation Automatic Magnetic Recording Borescope.
1986-01-01
or other brushless signal coupling devices to the extent possible and feasible to reduce or eliminate the need for slip ring and brush type signal...the inspection head, is used to magnetically couple the necessary energy across the rotary interface. Because there is (1) an appreciable air gap in...were written. (2) As required by the contract, the signal conditioners in the MB employ automatic gain control to compensate for the changes in
Latest developments in on- and off-line inspection of bank notes during production
Brown, Stephen C.
2004-06-01
The inspection of bank notes is a highly labour intensive process where traditionally every note on every sheet is inspected manually. However with the advent of more and more sophisticated security features, both visible and invisible, and the requirement of cost reduction in the printing process, it is clear that automation is required. Machines for the automatic inspection of bank notes have been on the market for the past 10 to 12 years, but recent developments in technology have enabled a new generation of detectors and machines to be developed. This paper focuses on the latest developments in both the off-line and on-line inspection of bank notes covering not only the visible spectrum but also a new range of detectors for inspection some of the more common invisible features used as covert features in today's bank notes.
Container code recognition in information auto collection system of container inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Su Jianping; Chen Zhiqiang; Zhang Li; Gao Wenhuan; Kang Kejun
2003-01-01
Now custom needs electrical application and automatic detection. Container inspection should not only give the image of the goods, but also auto-attain container's code and weight. Its function and track control, information transfer make up the Information Auto Collection system of Container Inspection. Code Recognition is the point. The article is based on model match, the close property of character, and uses it to recognize. Base on checkout rule, design the adjustment arithmetic, form the whole recognition strategy. This strategy can achieve high recognition ratio and robust property
Development of the radiation inspection system for food materials
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Min, Sujung; Kim, Heeyoung; Kim, Myungjin; Lee, Unjang [ORIONENC Co., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
2015-10-15
Radioactive contamination of processed foodstuffs, livestock, marine products, farm products imported from Japan and fishes caught in coastal waters of Korea has become an important social issue. Recently, there are also needs of inspection system for monitoring of public meals such like school feedings of kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school and university. Radioactivity inspections of those foods are executed manually with portable measuring instruments or at labs using their samples. But, radioactivity inspections of those foods should execute field survey in real time. In consequence, there are some problem of time delay and low reliability. To protect the health of citizens from radioactivity contained in Japanese marine products imported to Korea, a system to inspect radioactivity in real time is developed. The system is to measure the radioactivity level of farm and marine products and public meals continuously and automatically at inspection sites of an agency checking radiation of imported foodstuffs to determine radioactive contamination. Performance was identified through the performance test (Cs-137 30, 50, 300, 900Bq/kg) at Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS). NaI(Tl) detector was satisfied the performance for measurement.
Development of the radiation inspection system for food materials
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Min, Sujung; Kim, Heeyoung; Kim, Myungjin; Lee, Unjang
2015-01-01
Radioactive contamination of processed foodstuffs, livestock, marine products, farm products imported from Japan and fishes caught in coastal waters of Korea has become an important social issue. Recently, there are also needs of inspection system for monitoring of public meals such like school feedings of kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school and university. Radioactivity inspections of those foods are executed manually with portable measuring instruments or at labs using their samples. But, radioactivity inspections of those foods should execute field survey in real time. In consequence, there are some problem of time delay and low reliability. To protect the health of citizens from radioactivity contained in Japanese marine products imported to Korea, a system to inspect radioactivity in real time is developed. The system is to measure the radioactivity level of farm and marine products and public meals continuously and automatically at inspection sites of an agency checking radiation of imported foodstuffs to determine radioactive contamination. Performance was identified through the performance test (Cs-137 30, 50, 300, 900Bq/kg) at Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS). NaI(Tl) detector was satisfied the performance for measurement
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rapin, Michel; Saglio, Robert.
1978-01-01
Methods and original technics have been developed by the CEA for inspection of the primary coolant circuit of PWR. Multifrequency Eddy currents for inspection of steam generators tubes gudgeons and bolts; focussed ultrasonics to test all the welds of the reactor vessel and its cover of mixed welds of tanks and steam generators, pressurizer welds and gudgeons from the inside; gamma radiography of vessel mixed welds, televisual examination of the stainless steel lining of the reactor vessel and its cover. Use of these technics is made with specific automatic machines designed either for inspection of steam generator tubes or for complete inspection of the vessel. Several reactors were inspected with these devices [fr
Automation of eddy current system for in-service inspection of turbine and generator bores
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Viertl, J.R.M.
1988-01-01
The most commonly applied inspection method for ferromagnetic turbine and generator rotor bores is the magnetic particle test technique. This method is subjective, depends on the test operator's skill and diligence in identifying test indications, and suffers from poor repeatability, especially for small indications. Automation would improve repeatability. However, magnetic particle tests are not easily automated, because the data are in the form of sketches, photographs, and written and oral descriptions of the indications. Eddy current inspection has obvious potential to replace magnetic particle methods in this application. Eddy current tests can be readily automated, as the data are in the form of voltages that can be recorded, digitized, and manipulated by a computer. The current project continues the investigation of the correlation between eddy current and magnetic particle inspection. Two systems have been combined to acquire eddy current data automatically. This combination of systems consists of the Nortec-25L Eddyscope (to provide the analog eddy current signals) and the General Electric DATAQ (TM) System (to perform the automatic data acquisition). The automation of the system is discussed
Regulation and Measurement of the Heat Generated by Automatic Tooth Preparation in a Confined Space.
Yuan, Fusong; Zheng, Jianqiao; Sun, Yuchun; Wang, Yong; Lyu, Peijun
2017-06-01
The aim of this study was to assess and regulate heat generation in the dental pulp cavity and circumambient temperature around a tooth during laser ablation with a femtosecond laser in a confined space. The automatic tooth preparing technique is one of the traditional oral clinical technology innovations. In this technique, a robot controlled an ultrashort pulse laser to automatically complete the three-dimensional teeth preparing in a confined space. The temperature control is the main measure for protecting the tooth nerve. Ten tooth specimens were irradiated with a femtosecond laser controlled by a robot in a confined space to generate 10 teeth preparation. During the process, four thermocouple sensors were used to record the pulp cavity and circumambient environment temperatures with or without air cooling. A statistical analysis of the temperatures was performed between the conditions with and without air cooling (p heat generated in the pulp cavity was lower than the threshold for dental pulp damage. These results indicate that femtosecond laser ablation with air cooling might be an appropriate method for automatic tooth preparing.
Development of inspection technology for inner wall pipe of aging nuclear power plant
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ito, Fuyumi; Nishimura, Akihiko
2013-01-01
Careful inspection should be paid on aging nuclear power plants. Due to the Fukushima BWR accident, more advanced inspection techniques are now requested in Japan. To find SCC along welded sections by Ultrasonic Testing or Eddy Current Testing is difficult due to the low S/N. Here we propose to apply Magnetic particle Testing (MT) on the inspection. MT uses magnetic particles uniting fluorescent pigment. It is a weak point of MT that uniting particles and pigment is breakable. To extend the lifetime, we developed unique capsule for the magnetic particle to coexist with fluorescent pigment. In addition, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) used for the laser cleaning of materials, is reported in this paper as a preliminary experiment. The intensity of 621nm peak gradually decreases over time. This result will become a measure of the degree of oxide layer removal. (author)
Nova laser alignment control system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Van Arsdall, P.J.; Holloway, F.W.; McGuigan, D.L.; Shelton, R.T.
1984-01-01
Alignment of the Nova laser requires control of hundreds of optical components in the ten beam paths. Extensive application of computer technology makes daily alignment practical. The control system is designed in a manner which provides both centralized and local manual operator controls integrated with automatic closed loop alignment. Menudriven operator consoles using high resolution color graphics displays overlaid with transport touch panels allow laser personnel to interact efficiently with the computer system. Automatic alignment is accomplished by using image analysis techniques to determine beam references points from video images acquired along the laser chain. A major goal of the design is to contribute substantially to rapid experimental turnaround and consistent alignment results. This paper describes the computer-based control structure and the software methods developed for aligning this large laser system
An automatic system to study sperm motility and energetics
Shi, LZ; Nascimento, JM; Chandsawangbhuwana, C; Botvinick, EL; Berns, MW
2008-01-01
An integrated robotic laser and microscope system has been developed to automatically analyze individual sperm motility and energetics. The custom-designed optical system directs near-infrared laser light into an inverted microscope to create a single-point 3-D gradient laser trap at the focal spot of the microscope objective. A two-level computer structure is described that quantifies the sperm motility (in terms of swimming speed and swimming force) and energetics (measuring mid-piece membr...
An automatic system to study sperm motility and energetics.
Shi, Linda Z; Nascimento, Jaclyn M; Chandsawangbhuwana, Charlie; Botvinick, Elliot L; Berns, Michael W
2008-08-01
An integrated robotic laser and microscope system has been developed to automatically analyze individual sperm motility and energetics. The custom-designed optical system directs near-infrared laser light into an inverted microscope to create a single-point 3-D gradient laser trap at the focal spot of the microscope objective. A two-level computer structure is described that quantifies the sperm motility (in terms of swimming speed and swimming force) and energetics (measuring mid-piece membrane potential) using real-time tracking (done by the upper-level system) and fluorescent ratio imaging (done by the lower-level system). The communication between these two systems is achieved by a gigabit network. The custom-built image processing algorithm identifies the sperm swimming trajectory in real-time using phase contrast images, and then subsequently traps the sperm by automatically moving the microscope stage to relocate the sperm to the laser trap focal plane. Once the sperm is stably trapped (determined by the algorithm), the algorithm can also gradually reduce the laser power by rotating the polarizer in the laser path to measure the trapping power at which the sperm is capable of escaping the trap. To monitor the membrane potential of the mitochondria located in a sperm's mid-piece, the sperm is treated with a ratiometrically-encoded fluorescent probe. The proposed algorithm can relocate the sperm to the center of the ratio imaging camera and the average ratio value can be measured in real-time. The three parameters, sperm escape power, sperm swimming speed and ratio values of the mid-piece membrane potential of individual sperm can be compared with respect to time. This two-level automatic system to study individual sperm motility and energetics has not only increased experimental throughput by an order of magnitude but also has allowed us to monitor sperm energetics prior to and after exposure to the laser trap. This system should have application in both the
The portable GIS applied to geotechnical inspections; O GIS portatil para inspecoes geotecnicas
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Rabaco, Lis M.; Lins, Alexandre F. [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Costa, Rogerio M.; Freitas, Carlos F. [CONCREMAT, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)
2005-07-01
The purpose of this paper is to implement an interface using tool to pack the GIS application to carry out a field inspection. The solution was implemented on pocket equipment using a simplified map and database integrated with the GIS Corporative. The main objective is to avoid paper work in field inspections. The emphases are on geotechnical inspections in order to assist the recuperation of information about points with geotechnical risk. There are interfaces with external device as GPS for insertion of points of risk. A set of tools are developed for bidirectional synchronization among the Corporative GIS and the pocket devices. The project focused geotechnical inspections on field, in order to synchronize automatically the information collected with the pocket GIS application with a Web server, packing all information from field operation to managers. (author)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kokil, S.V.; Kane, G.V.; Raghavendra, S.; Chauhan, S.K.; Rajpoot, D.S.; Oraon, B.; Om Prakash; Joshi, S.C.
2015-01-01
An optical inspection system has been developed for inspection of internal surfaces of 650 MHz superconducting RF cavities. The cavity parts are welded either using Electron Beam or Laser Beam Welding for making a good quality of weld joints. Surface defects like pits, scratches, welding spatters etc. on the internal surface of the cavity deteriorates cavity performance. Surface quality of the cavity equator joint plays an important role in the cavity performance. To study the quality of equator surface, the inspection bench offers high resolution images with a linear resolution of 45 m/pixel at a distance of ∼200 mm. The bench comprises of two major sub-systems, optical imaging system and cavity positioning system. A digital camera and multi coloured illumination system is used to obtain high resolution images. The camera is mounted inside a long cylindrical tube. The cylindrical tube can be inserted into a SCRF cavity. The length of the cylinder is long enough to inspect five-cell 650 MHz SCRF cavity. The cavity is placed on a set of PTFE rollers, which are mounted on a trolley. The cavity can be moved linearly with the help of ball screw-servomotor mechanism. The camera along with cylindrical tube can be rotated around its axis with a stepper motor to scan the cavity's internal surface. The paper presents the details about the optical inspection bench and optical inspection results. (author)
Development of intelligent Eddy Current Testing (ECT) system for PWR steam generator tube inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kawata, K.; Kawase, N.; Kurokawa, M.; Asada, Y.
2005-01-01
The intelligent ECT system was developed for the inspection of heat transfer tubes of the steam generator of the PWR plant. It consists of intelligent probe, data acquisition unit and data analysis system. The probe combines 24 channels inclined lay out drive coils and thin film pick-up coils with built-in electric circuits to provide high inspection capability equivalent to rotating coil ECT and high-speed inspection equivalent to conventional bobbin coil ECT. The advanced data analysis system that has filtering and automatic analysis functions is also developed to enable fast and precise analysis of large volume inspection data. The system was qualified by confirmation tests in FY 2003 to show thinned thickness sizing accuracy within ± 5%. (T. Tanaka)
High-speed railway signal trackside equipment patrol inspection system
Wu, Nan
2018-03-01
High-speed railway signal trackside equipment patrol inspection system comprehensively applies TDI (time delay integration), high-speed and highly responsive CMOS architecture, low illumination photosensitive technique, image data compression technique, machine vision technique and so on, installed on high-speed railway inspection train, and achieves the collection, management and analysis of the images of signal trackside equipment appearance while the train is running. The system will automatically filter out the signal trackside equipment images from a large number of the background image, and identify of the equipment changes by comparing the original image data. Combining with ledger data and train location information, the system accurately locate the trackside equipment, conscientiously guiding maintenance.
Inspection of Chooz power plant after ten years operation
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Saglio, Robert.
1978-01-01
This report is intended to discuss the results from the complete technical audit of the vessel effected in 1976 at the Ardennes reactor (CNA 305 MWe). This audit had a special character as far as this power plant has never been inspected before: the start-up had taken place in 1967 and was then prior to the development of French regulations (and even to the first version of the ASME code, Section XI). In that time, no inspection was expected; it has yet been possible to have a complete audit in ten days. The automatic start-up of focused ultrasonic testing so appeared to have reached the required reliability and a good sensitivity [fr
Note: Digital laser frequency auto-locking for inter-satellite laser ranging.
Luo, Yingxin; Li, Hongyin; Yeh, Hsien-Chi
2016-05-01
We present a prototype of a laser frequency auto-locking and re-locking control system designed for laser frequency stabilization in inter-satellite laser ranging system. The controller has been implemented on field programmable gate arrays and programmed with LabVIEW software. The controller allows initial frequency calibrating and lock-in of a free-running laser to a Fabry-Pérot cavity. Since it allows automatic recovery from unlocked conditions, benefit derives to automated in-orbit operations. Program design and experimental results are demonstrated.
Note: Digital laser frequency auto-locking for inter-satellite laser ranging
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Luo, Yingxin; Yeh, Hsien-Chi; Li, Hongyin
2016-01-01
We present a prototype of a laser frequency auto-locking and re-locking control system designed for laser frequency stabilization in inter-satellite laser ranging system. The controller has been implemented on field programmable gate arrays and programmed with LabVIEW software. The controller allows initial frequency calibrating and lock-in of a free-running laser to a Fabry-Pérot cavity. Since it allows automatic recovery from unlocked conditions, benefit derives to automated in-orbit operations. Program design and experimental results are demonstrated.
Note: Digital laser frequency auto-locking for inter-satellite laser ranging
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Luo, Yingxin; Yeh, Hsien-Chi, E-mail: yexianji@mail.hust.edu.cn [MOE Key Laboratory of Fundamental Quantities Measurement, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); Li, Hongyin [MOE Key Laboratory of Fundamental Quantities Measurement, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); School of Automation, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)
2016-05-15
We present a prototype of a laser frequency auto-locking and re-locking control system designed for laser frequency stabilization in inter-satellite laser ranging system. The controller has been implemented on field programmable gate arrays and programmed with LabVIEW software. The controller allows initial frequency calibrating and lock-in of a free-running laser to a Fabry-Pérot cavity. Since it allows automatic recovery from unlocked conditions, benefit derives to automated in-orbit operations. Program design and experimental results are demonstrated.
Toward a drone-based EL and PL inspection tool for PV power plants
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Riedel, Nicholas; Benatto, Gisele Alves dos Reis; Thorsteinsson, Sune
2017-01-01
of image detail and qualitative insight compared to IR thermography. Furthermore, detection and identification of incipient or severe faults in PV panels is more straightforward.This project proposes for the first time a fast and accurate automatic drone-based inspection method for large PV plants...
Improvements in the UT Inspection of vessel nozzles. Array application
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Tanarro, A.; Garcia, A.; Izquierdo, J.
1998-01-01
Automatic ultrasonic inspection of certain components in nuclear power plants, together with problems related to access of same, result in other difficulties due to the complexity of their geometry and the apparent orientation of possible defects. Array technology, recently developed on the basis of the theoretical principals of phased array technique, has meant that it is now possible to advance in the characterisation, localisation, and sizing of the defects in these components. This has been possible thanks to the discovery of synthetic materials which have allowed us to design and manufacture a new group of ultrasonic transducers. To these we may add new developments in electronics and computer sciences which have facilitated the building of high-powered control systems. This report discusses the work carried out by Tecnatom and Iberdrola in the field of automatic ultrasonic inspection of the vessel nozzles by means of array technology in the BWR at the Cofrentes Nuclear Power Station. The aims of this work were: - To facilitate the detection, characterisation, sizing and positioning of defects - To simplify and improve ultrasonic inspection in order to reduce acquisition times and the cost of same In order to achieve these results the following items were developed: - New array transducers were designed and manufactured - A new data acquisition system was developed - New programs for analysing data and for simulating ultrasonic testing was developed - The results have been validated in mock up. (Author)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kojima, Y.; Matsuyama, A.
1995-01-01
An automated device and its controller have been developed for the bottom head weld examination of pressure vessel of Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR). The internal pump casings and the housings of control rod prevent a conventional ultrasonic device from scanning the required inspection zone. With this reason, it is required to develop a new device to examine the bottom head area of ABWR. The developed device is characterized by the following features. (1) Composed of a mother vehicle and a compact inspection vehicle. They are connected only by an electric wire without using the conventional arm mechanism. (2) The mother vehicle travels on a track and lift up the inspection vehicle to the vessel. (3) The mother vehicle can automatically attach the inspection vehicle to the bottom head, and detach the inspection vehicle from it. (4) Collision avoidance control function with a touch sensor is installed at the front of the inspection vehicle. The device was successfully demonstrated using a mock-up of reactor pressure vessel
Automatic gas-levitation system for vacuum deposition of laser-fusion targets
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Jordan, C.W.; Cameron, G.R.; Krenik, R.M.; Crane, J.K.
1981-01-01
An improved simple system has been developed to gas-levitate microspheres during vacuum-deposition processes. The automatic operation relies on two effects: a lateral stabilizing force provided by a centering-ring; and an automatically incremented gas metering system to offset weight increases during coating
A smart ROV solution for ship hull and harbor inspection
Reed, Scott; Wood, Jon; Vazquez, Jose; Mignotte, Pierre-Yves; Privat, Benjamin
2010-04-01
Hull and harbor infrastructure inspections are frequently performed manually and involve quite a bit of risk and human and monetary resources. In any kind of threat and resource constrained environment, this involves unacceptable levels of risk and cost. Modern Remotely Operated Vehicles are highly refined machines that provide features and capabilities previously unavailable. Operations once carried out by divers can now be carried out more quickly, efficiently and safely by smart enabled ROVs. ROVs are rapidly deployable and capable of continuous, reliable operations in adverse conditions. They also provide a stable platform on which multiple sensors may be mounted and utilized to meet the harbor inspection problem. Automated Control software provides ROV's and their pilots with the capability to inspect complex, constrained environments such as those found in a harbor region. This application and the user interface allow the ROV to automatically conduct complex maneuvers relative to the area being inspected and relieves the training requirements and work load for the pilot, allowing he or she to focus on the primary task of survey, inspection and looking for possible threats (such as IEDs, Limpet Mines, signs of sabotage, etc). Real-time sensor processing tools can be integrated into the smart ROV solution to assist the operator. Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) algorithms are used to search through the sensor data collected by the ROV in real time. These algorithms provide immediate feedback on possible threats and notify the operator of regions that may require manual verification. Sensor data (sonar or video) is also mosaiced, providing the operator with real-time situational awareness and a coverage map of the hull or seafloor. Detected objects may also be placed in the context of the large scale characteristics of the hull (or bottom or pilings) and localized. Within the complex areas such as the harbor pier pilings and the running gear of the ship, real
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hui Song
2014-07-01
Full Text Available This paper designs and develops an automatic detection system in the substation environment where complex and multi-inspecting objects exist. The inspection robot is able to fix and identify the objects quickly using a visual servo control system. This paper focuses on the analysis of fast lockup and recognition method of the substation instruments based on an improved Adaboost algorithm. The robot adjusts its position to the best view point and best resolution for the instrument in real-time. The dial and pointer of the instruments are detected with an improved Hough algorithm, and the angle of the pointer is converted to the corresponding readings. The experimental results indicate that the inspection robot can fix and identify the substation instruments quickly, and has a wide range of practical applications.
Luminescence Imaging Strategies for Drone-Based PV Array Inspection
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Benatto, Gisele Alves dos Reis; Riedel, Nicholas; Mantel, Claire
2017-01-01
) acquisition under natural light conditions during several times of the day, under high sun irradiation, to unveil the sunlight noise characteristics towards an InGaAs detector. In order to bring more freedom to a drone-based inspection, we also show the preliminary results of a laser-line based...
INFIBRA: machine vision inspection of acrylic fiber production
Davies, Roger; Correia, Bento A. B.; Contreiras, Jose; Carvalho, Fernando D.
1998-10-01
This paper describes the implementation of INFIBRA, a machine vision system for the inspection of acrylic fiber production lines. The system was developed by INETI under a contract from Fisipe, Fibras Sinteticas de Portugal, S.A. At Fisipe there are ten production lines in continuous operation, each approximately 40 m in length. A team of operators used to perform periodic manual visual inspection of each line in conditions of high ambient temperature and humidity. It is not surprising that failures in the manual inspection process occurred with some frequency, with consequences that ranged from reduced fiber quality to production stoppages. The INFIBRA system architecture is a specialization of a generic, modular machine vision architecture based on a network of Personal Computers (PCs), each equipped with a low cost frame grabber. Each production line has a dedicated PC that performs automatic inspection, using specially designed metrology algorithms, via four video cameras located at key positions on the line. The cameras are mounted inside custom-built, hermetically sealed water-cooled housings to protect them from the unfriendly environment. The ten PCs, one for each production line, communicate with a central PC via a standard Ethernet connection. The operator controls all aspects of the inspection process, from configuration through to handling alarms, via a simple graphical interface on the central PC. At any time the operator can also view on the central PC's screen the live image from any one of the 40 cameras employed by the system.
[Automatic Sleep Stage Classification Based on an Improved K-means Clustering Algorithm].
Xiao, Shuyuan; Wang, Bei; Zhang, Jian; Zhang, Qunfeng; Zou, Junzhong
2016-10-01
Sleep stage scoring is a hotspot in the field of medicine and neuroscience.Visual inspection of sleep is laborious and the results may be subjective to different clinicians.Automatic sleep stage classification algorithm can be used to reduce the manual workload.However,there are still limitations when it encounters complicated and changeable clinical cases.The purpose of this paper is to develop an automatic sleep staging algorithm based on the characteristics of actual sleep data.In the proposed improved K-means clustering algorithm,points were selected as the initial centers by using a concept of density to avoid the randomness of the original K-means algorithm.Meanwhile,the cluster centers were updated according to the‘Three-Sigma Rule’during the iteration to abate the influence of the outliers.The proposed method was tested and analyzed on the overnight sleep data of the healthy persons and patients with sleep disorders after continuous positive airway pressure(CPAP)treatment.The automatic sleep stage classification results were compared with the visual inspection by qualified clinicians and the averaged accuracy reached 76%.With the analysis of morphological diversity of sleep data,it was proved that the proposed improved K-means algorithm was feasible and valid for clinical practice.
Defect-detection algorithm for noncontact acoustic inspection using spectrum entropy
Sugimoto, Kazuko; Akamatsu, Ryo; Sugimoto, Tsuneyoshi; Utagawa, Noriyuki; Kuroda, Chitose; Katakura, Kageyoshi
2015-07-01
In recent years, the detachment of concrete from bridges or tunnels and the degradation of concrete structures have become serious social problems. The importance of inspection, repair, and updating is recognized in measures against degradation. We have so far studied the noncontact acoustic inspection method using airborne sound and the laser Doppler vibrometer. In this method, depending on the surface state (reflectance, dirt, etc.), the quantity of the light of the returning laser decreases and optical noise resulting from the leakage of light reception arises. Some influencing factors are the stability of the output of the laser Doppler vibrometer, the low reflective characteristic of the measurement surface, the diffused reflection characteristic, measurement distance, and laser irradiation angle. If defect detection depends only on the vibration energy ratio since the frequency characteristic of the optical noise resembles white noise, the detection of optical noise resulting from the leakage of light reception may indicate a defective part. Therefore, in this work, the combination of the vibrational energy ratio and spectrum entropy is used to judge whether a measured point is healthy or defective or an abnormal measurement point. An algorithm that enables more vivid detection of a defective part is proposed. When our technique was applied in an experiment with real concrete structures, the defective part could be extracted more vividly and the validity of our proposed algorithm was confirmed.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Tarpley, M.W.
1976-10-01
Extruded aluminum-clad uranium-aluminum alloy fuel tubes must pass many quality control tests before irradiation in Savannah River Plant nuclear reactors. Nondestructive test equipment has been built to automatically detect high and low density areas in the fuel tubes using x-ray absorption techniques with a video analysis system. The equipment detects areas as small as 0.060-in. dia with 2 percent penetrameter sensitivity. These areas are graded as to size and density by an operator using electronic gages. Video image enhancement techniques permit inspection of ribbed cylindrical tubes and make possible the testing of areas under the ribs. Operation of the testing machine, the special low light level television camera, and analysis and enhancement techniques are discussed
Remote-automated inspection and maintenance of nuclear power plant equipment
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sasaki, Masayoshi; Nakano, Yoshiyuki
1984-12-01
Employing remote-control inspection and maintenance equipment in nuclear power plants increases the plant availability by decreasing the annual shutdown time (outage), as well as radiation exposure and man-power. This paper presents an outline of the latest designs for an automatic refueling machine, a control rod drive handling machine, a fuel preparation machine, and a main steam line plug, which were supplied to the Fukushima Dai-Ni No. 2 Plant of the Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (Fukushima 2-2). Also, the up-to-date developments of other new automatic machines, such as a CRD disassembly and cleaning system, spent fuel channel box volume reduction equipment, and robotics for nuclear plant use are presented.
2017-01-01
We selected iOS in this study as the App operation system, Objective-C as the programming language, and Oracle as the database to develop an App to inspect controlled substances in patient care units. Using a web-enabled smartphone, pharmacist inspection can be performed on site and the inspection result can be directly recorded into HIS through the Internet, so human error of data translation can be minimized and the work efficiency and data processing can be improved. This system not only is fast and convenient compared to the conventional paperwork, but also provides data security and accuracy. In addition, there are several features to increase inspecting quality: (1) accuracy of drug appearance, (2) foolproof mechanism to avoid input errors or miss, (3) automatic data conversion without human judgments, (4) online alarm of expiry date, and (5) instant inspection result to show not meted items. This study has successfully turned paper-based medication inspection into inspection using a web-based mobile device. PMID:28286761
Enhancement of the automatic ultrasonic signal processing system using digital technology
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Koo, In Soo; Park, H. Y.; Suh, Y. S.; Kim, D. Hoon; Huh, S.; Sung, S. H.; Jang, G. S.; Ryoo, S. G.; Choi, J. H.; Kim, Y. H.; Lee, J. C.; Kim, D. Hyun; Park, H. J.; Kim, Y. C.; Lee, J. P.; Park, C. H.; Kim, M. S.
1999-12-01
The objective of this study is to develop the automatic ultrasonic signal processing system which can be used in the inspection equipment to assess the integrity of the reactor vessel by enhancing the performance of the ultrasonic signal processing system. Main activities of this study divided into three categories such as the development of the circuits for generating ultrasonic signal and receiving the signal from the inspection equipment, the development of signal processing algorithm and H/W of the data processing system, and the development of the specification for application programs and system S/W for the analysis and evaluation computer. The results of main activities are as follows 1) the design of the ultrasonic detector and the automatic ultrasonic signal processing system by using the investigation of the state-of-the-art technology in the inside and outside of the country. 2) the development of H/W and S/W of the data processing system based on the results. Especially, the H/W of the data processing system, which have both advantages of digital and analog controls through the real-time digital signal processing, was developed using the DSP which can process the digital signal in the real-time, and was developed not only firmware of the data processing system in order for the peripherals but also the test algorithm of specimen for the calibration. The application programs and the system S/W of the analysis/evaluation computer were developed. Developed equipment was verified by the performance test. Based on developed prototype for the automatic ultrasonic signal processing system, the localization of the overall ultrasonic inspection equipment for nuclear industries would be expected through the further studies of the H/W establishment of real applications, developing the S/W specification of the analysis computer. (author)
Surface Casting Defects Inspection Using Vision System and Neural Network Techniques
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Świłło S.J.
2013-12-01
Full Text Available The paper presents a vision based approach and neural network techniques in surface defects inspection and categorization. Depending on part design and processing techniques, castings may develop surface discontinuities such as cracks and pores that greatly influence the material’s properties Since the human visual inspection for the surface is slow and expensive, a computer vision system is an alternative solution for the online inspection. The authors present the developed vision system uses an advanced image processing algorithm based on modified Laplacian of Gaussian edge detection method and advanced lighting system. The defect inspection algorithm consists of several parameters that allow the user to specify the sensitivity level at which he can accept the defects in the casting. In addition to the developed image processing algorithm and vision system apparatus, an advanced learning process has been developed, based on neural network techniques. Finally, as an example three groups of defects were investigated demonstrates automatic selection and categorization of the measured defects, such as blowholes, shrinkage porosity and shrinkage cavity.
Experimental investigation by laser ultrasonics for high speed train axle diagnostics.
Cavuto, A; Martarelli, M; Pandarese, G; Revel, G M; Tomasini, E P
2015-01-01
The present paper demonstrates the applicability of a laser-ultrasonic procedure to improve the performances of train axle ultrasonic inspection. The method exploits an air-coupled ultrasonic probe that detects the ultrasonic waves generated by a high-power pulsed laser. As a result, the measurement chain is completely non-contact, from generation to detection, this making it possible to considerably speed up inspection time and make the set-up more flexible. The main advantage of the technique developed is that it works in thermo-elastic regime and it therefore can be considered as a non-destructive method. The laser-ultrasonic procedure investigated has been applied for the inspection of a real high speed train axle provided by the Italian railway company (Trenitalia), on which typical fatigue defects have been expressly created according to standard specifications. A dedicated test bench has been developed so as to rotate the axle with the angle control and to speed up the inspection of the axle surface. The laser-ultrasonic procedure proposed can be automated and is potentially suitable for regular inspection of train axles. The main achievements of the activity described in this paper are: – the study of the effective applicability of laser-ultrasonics for the diagnostic of train hollow axles with variable sections by means of a numerical FE model, – the carrying out of an automated experiment on a real train axle, – the analysis of the sensitivity to experimental parameters, like laser source – receiving probe distance and receiving probe angular position, – the demonstration that the technique is suitable for the detection of surface defects purposely created on the train axle. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Cutting and machining energetic materials with a femtosecond laser
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Roeske, Frank; Benterou, Jerry; Lee, Ronald; Roos, Edward [Energetic Materials Center, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P. O. Box 808, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States)
2003-04-01
A femtosecond (fs) laser has been used as a tool for solving many problems involving access, machining, disassembly, inspection and avoidance of undesirable hazardous waste streams in systems containing energetic materials. Because of the unique properties of the interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with matter, the femtosecond laser can be used to safely cut these energetic materials in a precise manner without creating an unacceptable waste stream. Many types of secondary high explosives (HE) and propellants have been cut with the laser for a variety of applications ranging from disassembly of aging conventional weapons (demilitarization), inspection of energetic components of aging systems to creating unique shapes of HE for purposes of initiation and detonation physics studies. Hundreds of samples of energetic materials have been cut with the fs laser without ignition and, in most cases, without changing the surface morphology of the cut surfaces. The laser has also been useful in cutting nonenergetic components in close proximity to energetic materials. (Abstract Copyright [2003], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)
Sensor integration for robotic laser welding processes
Iakovou, D.; Aarts, Ronald G.K.M.; Meijer, J.; Ostendorf, A; Hoult, A.; Lu, Y.
2005-01-01
The use of robotic laser welding is increasing among industrial applications, because of its ability to weld objects in three dimensions. Robotic laser welding involves three sub-processes: seam detection and tracking, welding process control, and weld seam inspection. Usually, for each sub-process,
Effective and efficient optics inspection approach using machine learning algorithms
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Abdulla, G.; Kegelmeyer, L.; Liao, Z.; Carr, W.
2010-01-01
The Final Optics Damage Inspection (FODI) system automatically acquires and utilizes the Optics Inspection (OI) system to analyze images of the final optics at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). During each inspection cycle up to 1000 images acquired by FODI are examined by OI to identify and track damage sites on the optics. The process of tracking growing damage sites on the surface of an optic can be made more effective by identifying and removing signals associated with debris or reflections. The manual process to filter these false sites is daunting and time consuming. In this paper we discuss the use of machine learning tools and data mining techniques to help with this task. We describe the process to prepare a data set that can be used for training and identifying hardware reflections in the image data. In order to collect training data, the images are first automatically acquired and analyzed with existing software and then relevant features such as spatial, physical and luminosity measures are extracted for each site. A subset of these sites is 'truthed' or manually assigned a class to create training data. A supervised classification algorithm is used to test if the features can predict the class membership of new sites. A suite of self-configuring machine learning tools called 'Avatar Tools' is applied to classify all sites. To verify, we used 10-fold cross correlation and found the accuracy was above 99%. This substantially reduces the number of false alarms that would otherwise be sent for more extensive investigation.
Review: computer vision applied to the inspection and quality control of fruits and vegetables
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Erick Saldaña
2013-12-01
Full Text Available This is a review of the current existing literature concerning the inspection of fruits and vegetables with the application of computer vision, where the techniques most used to estimate various properties related to quality are analyzed. The objectives of the typical applications of such systems include the classification, quality estimation according to the internal and external characteristics, supervision of fruit processes during storage or the evaluation of experimental treatments. In general, computer vision systems do not only replace manual inspection, but can also improve their skills. In conclusion, computer vision systems are powerful tools for the automatic inspection of fruits and vegetables. In addition, the development of such systems adapted to the food industry is fundamental to achieve competitive advantages.
Guided-wave tomography imaging plate defects by laser-based ultrasonic techniques
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Park, Jun Pil; Lim, Ju Young; Cho, Youn Ho [School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, Pusan (Korea, Republic of)
2014-12-15
Contact-guided-wave tests are impractical for investigating specimens with limited accessibility and rough surfaces or complex geometric features. A non-contact setup with a laser-ultrasonic transmitter and receiver is quite attractive for guided-wave inspection. In the present work, we developed a non-contact guided-wave tomography technique using the laser-ultrasonic technique in a plate. A method for Lamb-wave generation and detection in an aluminum plate with a pulsed laser-ultrasonic transmitter and Michelson-interferometer receiver was developed. The defect shape and area in the images obtained using laser scanning, showed good agreement with the actual defect. The proposed approach can be used as a non-contact online inspection and monitoring technique.
D2O laser pumped by an injection-locked CO2 laser for ion-temperature measurements
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Okada, Tatsuo; Ohga, Tetsuaki; Yokoo, Masakazu; Muraoka, Katsunori; Akazaki, Masanori.
1986-01-01
The cooperative Thomson scattering method is one of the various new techniques proposed for measuring the temperature of ions in nuclear fusion critical plasma, for which a high-performance FIR laser pumped by an injection-locked CO 2 laser is required. This report deals with D 2 O laser with a wavelength of 385 μm which is pumped by injection-locked single-mole TEA CO 2 laser composed of a driver laser and an output-stage laser. A small-sized automatic pre-ionization type laser is employed for the driver. The resonator of the driver laser consists of a plane grating of littrow arrangement and ZnSe plane output mirrors with reflection factor of 50 %. An aperture and ZnSe etalon are inserted in the resonator to produce single transverse- and longitudinal-mode oscillation, respectively. The output-stage laser is also of the automatic pre-ionization type. Theoretically, an injection power of 0.1 pW/mm 3 is required for a CO 2 laser. Single-mode oscillation of several hundred nW/mm 3 can be produced by the CO 2 laser used in this study. Tuning of the output-stage laser is easily controlled by the driver laser. High stability of the injection-locked operation is demonstrated. CO 2 laser beam is introduced into the D 2 O laser through a KCl window to excite D 2 O laser beam in the axial direction. Input and output characteristics of the D 2 O laser are shown. Also presented are typical pulse shapes from the D 2 O laser pumped by a free-running CO 2 laser pulse or by an injection-locked single-mode CO 2 laser pulse. (Nogami, K.)
Mini AERCam Inspection Robot for Human Space Missions
Fredrickson, Steven E.; Duran, Steve; Mitchell, Jennifer D.
2004-01-01
The Engineering Directorate of NASA Johnson Space Center has developed a nanosatellite-class free-flyer intended for future external inspection and remote viewing of human spacecraft. The Miniature Autonomous Extravehicular Robotic Camera (Mini AERCam) technology demonstration unit has been integrated into the approximate form and function of a flight system. The spherical Mini AERCam free flyer is 7.5 inches in diameter and weighs approximately 10 pounds, yet it incorporates significant additional capabilities compared to the 35 pound, 14 inch AERCam Sprint that flew as a Shuttle flight experiment in 1997. Mini AERCam hosts a full suite of miniaturized avionics, instrumentation, communications, navigation, imaging, power, and propulsion subsystems, including digital video cameras and a high resolution still image camera. The vehicle is designed for either remotely piloted operations or supervised autonomous operations including automatic stationkeeping and point-to-point maneuvering. Mini AERCam is designed to fulfill the unique requirements and constraints associated with using a free flyer to perform external inspections and remote viewing of human spacecraft operations. This paper describes the application of Mini AERCam for stand-alone spacecraft inspection, as well as for roles on teams of humans and robots conducting future space exploration missions.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
B. Sirmacek
2013-10-01
Full Text Available Fusion of 3D airborne laser (LIDAR data and terrestrial optical imagery can be applied in 3D urban modeling and model up-dating. The most challenging aspect of the fusion procedure is registering the terrestrial optical images on the LIDAR point clouds. In this article, we propose an approach for registering these two different data from different sensor sources. As we use iPhone camera images which are taken in front of the interested urban structure by the application user and the high resolution LIDAR point clouds of the acquired by an airborne laser sensor. After finding the photo capturing position and orientation from the iPhone photograph metafile, we automatically select the area of interest in the point cloud and transform it into a range image which has only grayscale intensity levels according to the distance from the image acquisition position. We benefit from local features for registering the iPhone image to the generated range image. In this article, we have applied the registration process based on local feature extraction and graph matching. Finally, the registration result is used for facade texture mapping on the 3D building surface mesh which is generated from the LIDAR point cloud. Our experimental results indicate possible usage of the proposed algorithm framework for 3D urban map updating and enhancing purposes.
Awamura, D.; Ode, T.; Yonezawa, M.
1987-04-01
A color laser microscope utilizing a new color laser imaging system has been developed for the visual inspection of semiconductors. The light source, produced by three lasers (Red; He-Ne, Green; Ar, Blue; He-Cd), is deflected horizontally by an AOD (Acoustic Optical Deflector) and vertically by a vibration mirror. The laser beam is focused in a small spot which is scanned over the sample at high speed. The light reflected back from the sample is reformed to contain linear information by returning to the original vibration mirror. The linear light is guided to the CCD image sensor where it is converted into a video signal. Individual CCD image sensors are used for each of the three R, G, or B color image signals. The confocal optical system with its laser light source yields a color TV monitor image with no flaring and a much sharper resolution than that of the conventional optical microscope. The AOD makes possible a high speed laser scan and a NTSC or PAL TV video signal is produced in real time without any video memory. Since the light source is composed of R, G, and B laser beams, color separation superior to that of white light illumination is achieved. Because of the photometric linearity of the image detector, the R, G, and B outputs of the system are most suitably used for hue analysis. The CCD linear image sensors in the optical system produce no geometrical distortion, and good color registration is available principally. The output signal can be used for high accuracy line width measuring. The many features of the color laser microscope make it ideally suited for the visual inspection of semiconductor processing. A number of these systems have already been installed in such a capacity. The Color Laser Microscope can also be a very useful tool for the fields of material engineering and biotechnology.
Wang, Gaochao; Tse, Peter W.; Yuan, Maodan
2018-02-01
Visual inspection and assessment of the condition of metal structures are essential for safety. Pulse thermography produces visible infrared images, which have been widely applied to detect and characterize defects in structures and materials. When active thermography, a non-destructive testing tool, is applied, the necessity of considerable manual checking can be avoided. However, detecting an internal crack with active thermography remains difficult, since it is usually invisible in the collected sequence of infrared images, which makes the automatic detection of internal cracks even harder. In addition, the detection of an internal crack can be hindered by a complicated inspection environment. With the purpose of putting forward a robust and automatic visual inspection method, a computer vision-based thresholding method is proposed. In this paper, the image signals are a sequence of infrared images collected from the experimental setup with a thermal camera and two flash lamps as stimulus. The contrast of pixels in each frame is enhanced by the Canny operator and then reconstructed by a triple-threshold system. Two features, mean value in the time domain and maximal amplitude in the frequency domain, are extracted from the reconstructed signal to help distinguish the crack pixels from others. Finally, a binary image indicating the location of the internal crack is generated by a K-means clustering method. The proposed procedure has been applied to an iron pipe, which contains two internal cracks and surface abrasion. Some improvements have been made for the computer vision-based automatic crack detection methods. In the future, the proposed method can be applied to realize the automatic detection of internal cracks from many infrared images for the industry.
Development of the EURITRACK tagged neutron inspection system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Perot, B.; Carasco, C.; Bernard, S.
2007-01-01
The EURopean Illicit TRAfficing Countermeasures Kit (EURITRACK) project is part of the 6th European Union Framework Program. It aims at developing a Tagged Neutron Inspection System (TNIS) to detect illicit materials, such as explosives and narcotics, in cargo containers. Fast neutron induced reactions produce specific gamma-rays used to determine the chemical composition of the inspected material. The associated particle technique is employed to precisely locate the interaction points of the neutrons. A new deuterium-tritium neutron generator has been developed, including a pixelized alpha particle detector. The TNIS also comprises high-efficiency fast neutron and gamma-ray detectors, a dedicated front-end electronics and an integrated software to entirely drive the system and automatically process the data. Most components have been integrated during last months at Institute Ruder Boskovic, in Zagreb, Croatia. An overview of the TNIS and of its preliminary performances is presented
Remote visual inspection of nuclear fuel pellets with fiber optics and video image processing
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Moore, F.W.
1986-01-01
Westinghouse Hanford Company has designed and is constructing a nuclear fuel fabrication process line for the Department of Energy. This process line includes a pellet surface inspection system that remotely inspects the cylindrical surface of nuclear fuel pellets for surface spots, flaws, or discoloration. The pellets are inspected on a 100 percent basis after pellet sintering. A feeder will deliver the pellets directly to a fiber optic inspection head. The inspection head will view one pellet surface at a time. The surface image of the pellet will be imaged to a closed-circuit color television camera (CCTV). The output signal of the CCTV will be input to a digital imaging processor that stores approximately 25 pellet images at a time. A human operator will visually examine the images of the pellet surfaces on a high resolution monitor and accept or reject the pellets based on visual standards. The operator will use a digitizing tablet to record the location of rejected pellets, which will then be automatically removed from the product stream. The system is expandable to automated disposition of the pellet surface image
Remote visual inspection of nuclear fuel pellets with fiber optics and video image processing
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Moore, F.W.
1985-01-01
Westinghouse Hanford Company has designed and is constructing a nuclear fuel fabrication process line for the Department of Energy. This process line includes a pellet surface inspection system that remotely inspects the cylindrical surface of nuclear fuel pellets for surface spots, flaws, or discoloration. The pellets are inspected on a 100% basis after pellet sintering. A feeder will deliver the pellets directly to fiber optic inspection head. The inspection head will view one pellet surface at a time. The surface image of the pellet will be imaged to a closed-circuit color television camera (CCTV). The output signal of the CCTV will be input to a digital imaging processor that stores approximately 25 pellet images at a time. A human operator will visually examine the images of the pellet surfaces on a high resolution monitor and accept or reject the pellets based on visual standards. The operator will use a digitizing tablet to record the location of rejected pellets, which will then be automatically removed from the product stream. The system is expandable to automated disposition of the pellet surface image
Low-Cost Impact Detection and Location for Automated Inspections of 3D Metallic Based Structures
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Carlos Morón
2015-05-01
Full Text Available This paper describes a new low-cost means to detect and locate mechanical impacts (collisions on a 3D metal-based structure. We employ the simple and reasonably hypothesis that the use of a homogeneous material will allow certain details of the impact to be automatically determined by measuring the time delays of acoustic wave propagation throughout the 3D structure. The location of strategic piezoelectric sensors on the structure and an electronic-computerized system has allowed us to determine the instant and position at which the impact is produced. The proposed automatic system allows us to fully integrate impact point detection and the task of inspecting the point or zone at which this impact occurs. What is more, the proposed method can be easily integrated into a robot-based inspection system capable of moving over 3D metallic structures, thus avoiding (or minimizing the need for direct human intervention. Experimental results are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Feng, Qingshan; Li, Rui; Nie, Baohua; Liu, Shucong; Zhao, Lianyu; Zhang, Hong
2016-01-01
Girth weld cracking is one of the main failure modes in oil and gas pipelines; girth weld cracking inspection has great economic and social significance for the intrinsic safety of pipelines. This paper introduces the typical girth weld defects of oil and gas pipelines and the common nondestructive testing methods, and systematically generalizes the progress in the studies on technical principles, signal analysis, defect sizing method and inspection reliability, etc., of magnetic flux leakage (MFL) inspection, liquid ultrasonic inspection, electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) inspection and remote field eddy current (RFDC) inspection for oil and gas pipeline girth weld defects. Additionally, it introduces the new technologies for composite ultrasonic, laser ultrasonic, and magnetostriction inspection, and provides reference for development and application of oil and gas pipeline girth weld defect in-line inspection technology. PMID:28036016
Application of laser-based profilometry to tubing in power generating utilities
Doyle, James L.
1995-05-01
Over the past several years lasers have been employed in an ever widening number of applications in an incredibly diverse set of markets. In the area of nondestructive testing, however, laser-based systems have only recently made inroads into the commercial markets. About ten years ago QUEST Integrated, Inc., began working with the U.S. Navy to adapt the principal of laser triangulation to solve a serious maintenance related problem. The internal surfaces of marine boiler tubes were experiencing pitting and corrosion which had resulted in catastrophic shipboard failures. At that time, conventional visual methods only allowed operators to inspect the first eighteen inches of the tube using a rigid borescope. If any pits were located, a mechanical stylus mechanism was used to obtain an approximate depth measurement of the pit. The condition of the balance of the tube was then extrapolated based on this extremely limited amount of information. Often the worst pitting was found in the bends of the tube, which could not be inspected by the visual method. Finally, a catastrophic boiler failure on an aircraft carrier resulted in the initiation of a search by the U.S. Navy for a better solution. Quest was contracted to develop an articulated probe which could negotiate the full length of a boiler tube with multiple bends, and generate a complete digital map of the inside surface. A key requirement of this probe would be rapid and quantitative measurement of internal features such as ID pits and corrosion. In 1987 QUEST delivered the first laser- optic tube inspection system to the U.S. Navy for use in marine boiler tubes. The Laser Optic Tube Inspection System (LOTISTM) was immediately put to use and paid for itself many times over in reduced maintenance costs. Over the next six years several generations of LOTIS were developed for the U.S. Navy, each one providing more capabilities, improved inspection speeds, and more user friendly operator interface. Today, LOTIS is
Guided-wave tomographic imaging of plate defects by laser-based ultrasonic techniques
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Park, Junpil; Lim, Ju Young; Cho, Youn Ho [School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)
2016-12-15
Contact-guided-wave tests are impractical for investigating specimens with limited accessibility and rough surfaces or complex geometric features. A non-contact setup with a laser-ultrasonic transmitter and receiver is quite attractive for guided-wave inspection. In the present work, we developed a non-contact guided-wave tomography technique using the laser-ultrasonic technique in a plate. A method for Lamb-wave generation and detection in an aluminum plate with a pulsed laser-ultrasonic transmitter and Michelson-interferometer receiver was developed. The defect shape and area in the images obtained using laser scanning, showed good agreement with the actual defect. The proposed approach can be used as a non-contact online inspection and monitoring technique.
High-speed automated NDT device for niobium plate using scanning laser acoustic microscopy
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Oravecz, M.G.; Yu, B.Y.; Riney, K.; Kessler, L.W.; Padamsee, H.
1988-01-01
This paper presents a nondestructive testing (NDT) device which rapidly and automatically identifies defects throughout the volume of a 23.4 cm x 23.4 cm x 0.3 cm, pure niobium plate using Scanning Laser Acoustic Microscope (SLAM), high-resolution, 60 MHz, ultrasonic images. A principle advantage of the SLAM technique is that it combines a video scan rate with a high scan density (130 lines/mm at 60 MHz). To automate the inspection system they integrated under computer control the following: the SLAM RS-170/330 video output, a computerized XY plate scanner, a real-time video digitizer/integrator, a computer algorithm for defect detection, a digital mass storage device, and a hardcopy output device. The key element was development of an efficient, reliable defect detection algorithm using a variance filter with a locally determined threshold. This algorithm is responsible for recognizing valid flaws in the midst of random texture. This texture was seen throughout the acoustic images and was caused by the niobium microstructure. The images, as analyzed, contained 128 x 120 pixels with 64 grey levels per pixel. This system allows economical inspection of the large quantities (eg. 100 tons) of material needed for future particle accelerators based on microwave superconductivity. Rapid nondestructive inspection of pure niobium sheet is required because current accelerator performance is largely limited by the quality of commercially available material. Previous work documented critical flaws that are detectable by SLAM techniques. 15 references, 9 figures
Automatic re-contouring in 4D radiotherapy
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lu, Weiguo; Olivera, Gustavo H; Chen, Quan; Chen, Ming-Li; Ruchala, Kenneth J
2006-01-01
Delineating regions of interest (ROIs) on each phase of four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) images is an essential step for 4D radiotherapy. The requirement of manual phase-by-phase contouring prohibits the routine use of 4D radiotherapy. This paper develops an automatic re-contouring algorithm that combines techniques of deformable registration and surface construction. ROIs are manually contoured slice-by-slice in the reference phase image. A reference surface is constructed based on these reference contours using a triangulated surface construction technique. The deformable registration technique provides the voxel-to-voxel mapping between the reference phase and the test phase. The vertices of the reference surface are displaced in accordance with the deformation map, resulting in a deformed surface. The new contours are reconstructed by cutting the deformed surface slice-by-slice along the transversal, sagittal or coronal direction. Since both the inputs and outputs of our automatic re-contouring algorithm are contours, it is relatively easy to cope with any treatment planning system. We tested our automatic re-contouring algorithm using a deformable phantom and 4D CT images of six lung cancer patients. The proposed algorithm is validated by visual inspections and quantitative comparisons of the automatic re-contours with both the gold standard segmentations and the manual contours. Based on the automatic delineated ROIs, changes of tumour and sensitive structures during respiration are quantitatively analysed. This algorithm could also be used to re-contour daily images for treatment evaluation and adaptive radiotherapy
Automated Signal Processing Applied to Volatile-Based Inspection of Greenhouse Crops
Jansen, Roel; Hofstee, Jan Willem; Bouwmeester, Harro; van Henten, Eldert
2010-01-01
Gas chromatograph–mass spectrometers (GC-MS) have been used and shown utility for volatile-based inspection of greenhouse crops. However, a widely recognized difficulty associated with GC-MS application is the large and complex data generated by this instrument. As a consequence, experienced analysts are often required to process this data in order to determine the concentrations of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of interest. Manual processing is time-consuming, labour intensive and may be subject to errors due to fatigue. The objective of this study was to assess whether or not GC-MS data can also be automatically processed in order to determine the concentrations of crop health associated VOCs in a greenhouse. An experimental dataset that consisted of twelve data files was processed both manually and automatically to address this question. Manual processing was based on simple peak integration while the automatic processing relied on the algorithms implemented in the MetAlign™ software package. The results of automatic processing of the experimental dataset resulted in concentrations similar to that after manual processing. These results demonstrate that GC-MS data can be automatically processed in order to accurately determine the concentrations of crop health associated VOCs in a greenhouse. When processing GC-MS data automatically, noise reduction, alignment, baseline correction and normalisation are required. PMID:22163594
Automatic Detection of Vehicles Using Intensity Laser and Anaglyph Image
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hideo Araki
2006-12-01
Full Text Available In this work is presented a methodology to automatic car detection motion presents in digital aerial image on urban area using intensity, anaglyph and subtracting images. The anaglyph image is used to identify the motion cars on the expose take, because the cars provide red color due the not homology between objects. An implicit model was developed to provide a digital pixel value that has the specific propriety presented early, using the ratio between the RGB color of car object in the anaglyph image. The intensity image is used to decrease the false positive and to do the processing to work into roads and streets. The subtracting image is applied to decrease the false positives obtained due the markings road. The goal of this paper is automatically detect motion cars presents in digital aerial image in urban areas. The algorithm implemented applies normalization on the left and right images and later form the anaglyph with using the translation. The results show the applicability of proposed method and it potentiality on the automatic car detection and presented the performance of proposed methodology.
Extreme Learning Machine and Moving Least Square Regression Based Solar Panel Vision Inspection
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Heng Liu
2017-01-01
Full Text Available In recent years, learning based machine intelligence has aroused a lot of attention across science and engineering. Particularly in the field of automatic industry inspection, the machine learning based vision inspection plays a more and more important role in defect identification and feature extraction. Through learning from image samples, many features of industry objects, such as shapes, positions, and orientations angles, can be obtained and then can be well utilized to determine whether there is defect or not. However, the robustness and the quickness are not easily achieved in such inspection way. In this work, for solar panel vision inspection, we present an extreme learning machine (ELM and moving least square regression based approach to identify solder joint defect and detect the panel position. Firstly, histogram peaks distribution (HPD and fractional calculus are applied for image preprocessing. Then an ELM-based defective solder joints identification is discussed in detail. Finally, moving least square regression (MLSR algorithm is introduced for solar panel position determination. Experimental results and comparisons show that the proposed ELM and MLSR based inspection method is efficient not only in detection accuracy but also in processing speed.
A Portable Ultrasonic Nondestructive Inspection System for Metal Matrix Composite Track Shoes
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Mi Bao; Zhao Xiaoliang; Qian Tao; Stevenson, Mark; Kwan, Chiman; Owens, Steven E.; Royer, Roger L. Jr.; Tittmann, Bernhard R.; Raju, Basavaraju B.
2007-01-01
Cast aluminum track shoes reinforced with metal matrix composite (MMC) inserts at heavy loading areas such as center splines and sprocket windows are light in weight, and can resist high temperature and wear. Various defects such as disbonds at the insert-substrate interface, cracks and porosity in the MMC layer, etc. can be introduced during the manufacturing process and/or in service. This paper presents a portable ultrasonic system to automatically inspect tank track shoes for disbond. Ultrasonic pulse/echo inspection has shown good reliability for disbond detection. A prototype sensor array fixture has been designed and fabricated to prove the feasibility. Good agreements between the sensor fixture results and ultrasonic C-scan images were obtained
Defect detectability of eddy current testing for underwater laser beam welding
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ueno, Souichi; Kobayashi, Noriyasu; Ochiai, Makoto; Kasuya, Takashi; Yuguchi, Yasuhiro
2011-01-01
We clarified defect detectability of eddy current testing (ECT) as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding works of dissimilar metal welding (DMW) of reactor vessel nozzle. The underwater laser beam welding procedure includes groove caving as a preparation, laser beam welding in the grooves and welded surface grinding as a post treatment. Therefore groove and welded surface inspections are required in the underwater condition. The ECT is a major candidate as this inspection technique because a penetrant testing is difficult to perform in the underwater condition. Several kinds of experiments were curried out using a cross coil an ECT probe and ECT data acquisition system in order to demonstrate the ECT defect detectability. We used specimens, simulating groove and DMW materials at an RV nozzle, with electro-discharge machining (EDM) slits over it. Additionally, we performed a detection test for artificial stress corrosion cracking (SCC) defects. From these experimental results, we confirmed that an ECT was possible to detect EDM slits 0.3 mm or more in depth and artificial SCC defects 0.02 mm to 0.48 mm in depth on machined surface. Furthermore, the underwater ECT defect detectability is equivalent to that in air. We clarified an ECT is sufficiently usable as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding works. (author)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Abraham, O; Cottineau, L-M; Durand, O; Popovics, J S
2011-01-01
Non destructive testing of civil engineering infrastructures is becoming of primary importance for their diagnosis, residual time life estimation and/or structural health monitoring. A particularity of civil engineering application is the large size of the survey zones and the expected low cost of inspection. In this context non contact ultrasonics may offer the possibility to built robots that can automatically scan large areas (or eventually be integrated in moving vehicles) to recover mechanical properties of material or to perform imagery for geometrical information recovery. In this paper we present two possible applications of in situ laser ultrasonics : one is the detection of voids in tendon duct with the impact echo method, the other is the use of surface waves to recover mechanical properties of the first centimetres of concrete structures (here after called cover concrete).
Short-Range Sensor for Underwater Robot Navigation using Line-lasers and Vision
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hansen, Peter Nicholas; Nielsen, Mikkel Cornelius; Christensen, David Johan
2015-01-01
This paper investigates a minimalistic laser-based range sensor, used for underwater inspection by Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV). This range detection system system comprise two lasers projecting vertical lines, parallel to a camera’s viewing axis, into the environment. Using both lasers...
Active laser radar (lidar) for measurement of corresponding height and reflectance images
Froehlich, Christoph; Mettenleiter, M.; Haertl, F.
1997-08-01
For the survey and inspection of environmental objects, a non-tactile, robust and precise imaging of height and depth is the basis sensor technology. For visual inspection,surface classification, and documentation purposes, however, additional information concerning reflectance of measured objects is necessary. High-speed acquisition of both geometric and visual information is achieved by means of an active laser radar, supporting consistent 3D height and 2D reflectance images. The laser radar is an optical-wavelength system, and is comparable to devices built by ERIM, Odetics, and Perceptron, measuring the range between sensor and target surfaces as well as the reflectance of the target surface, which corresponds to the magnitude of the back scattered laser energy. In contrast to these range sensing devices, the laser radar under consideration is designed for high speed and precise operation in both indoor and outdoor environments, emitting a minimum of near-IR laser energy. It integrates a laser range measurement system and a mechanical deflection system for 3D environmental measurements. This paper reports on design details of the laser radar for surface inspection tasks. It outlines the performance requirements and introduces the measurement principle. The hardware design, including the main modules, such as the laser head, the high frequency unit, the laser beam deflection system, and the digital signal processing unit are discussed.the signal processing unit consists of dedicated signal processors for real-time sensor data preprocessing as well as a sensor computer for high-level image analysis and feature extraction. The paper focuses on performance data of the system, including noise, drift over time, precision, and accuracy with measurements. It discuses the influences of ambient light, surface material of the target, and ambient temperature for range accuracy and range precision. Furthermore, experimental results from inspection of buildings, monuments
Trajectory planning of tokamak flexible in-vessel inspection robot
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wang, Hesheng [Department of Automation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240 Shanghai (China); Key Laboratory of System Control and Information Processing, Ministry of Education of China, 200240 Shanghai (China); Chen, Weidong, E-mail: wdchen@sjtu.edu.cn [Department of Automation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240 Shanghai (China); Key Laboratory of System Control and Information Processing, Ministry of Education of China, 200240 Shanghai (China); Lai, Yinping; He, Tao [Department of Automation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240 Shanghai (China); Key Laboratory of System Control and Information Processing, Ministry of Education of China, 200240 Shanghai (China)
2015-10-15
Highlights: • A tokamak flexible in-vessel inspection robot is designed. • Two trajectory planning methods are used to ensure the full coverage of the first wall scanning. • The method is tested on a simulated platform of EAST with the flexible in-vessel inspection robot. • Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. - Abstract: Tokamak flexible in-vessel inspection robot is mainly designed to carry a camera for close observation of the first wall of the vacuum vessel, which is essential for the maintenance of the future tokamak reactor without breaking the working condition of the vacuum vessel. A tokamak flexible in-vessel inspection robot is designed. In order to improve efficiency of the remote maintenance, it is necessary to design a corresponding trajectory planning algorithm to complete the automatic full coverage scanning of the complex tokamak cavity. Two different trajectory planning methods, RS (rough scanning) and FS (fine scanning), according to different demands of the task, are used to ensure the full coverage of the first wall scanning. To quickly locate the damage position, the first trajectory planning method is targeted for quick and wide-ranging scan of the tokamak D-shaped section, and the second one is for careful observation. Furthermore, both of the two different trajectory planning methods can ensure the full coverage of the first wall scanning with an optimal end posture. The method is tested on a simulated platform of EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) with the flexible in-vessel inspection robot, and the results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Trajectory planning of tokamak flexible in-vessel inspection robot
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wang, Hesheng; Chen, Weidong; Lai, Yinping; He, Tao
2015-01-01
Highlights: • A tokamak flexible in-vessel inspection robot is designed. • Two trajectory planning methods are used to ensure the full coverage of the first wall scanning. • The method is tested on a simulated platform of EAST with the flexible in-vessel inspection robot. • Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. - Abstract: Tokamak flexible in-vessel inspection robot is mainly designed to carry a camera for close observation of the first wall of the vacuum vessel, which is essential for the maintenance of the future tokamak reactor without breaking the working condition of the vacuum vessel. A tokamak flexible in-vessel inspection robot is designed. In order to improve efficiency of the remote maintenance, it is necessary to design a corresponding trajectory planning algorithm to complete the automatic full coverage scanning of the complex tokamak cavity. Two different trajectory planning methods, RS (rough scanning) and FS (fine scanning), according to different demands of the task, are used to ensure the full coverage of the first wall scanning. To quickly locate the damage position, the first trajectory planning method is targeted for quick and wide-ranging scan of the tokamak D-shaped section, and the second one is for careful observation. Furthermore, both of the two different trajectory planning methods can ensure the full coverage of the first wall scanning with an optimal end posture. The method is tested on a simulated platform of EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) with the flexible in-vessel inspection robot, and the results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Laser gated viewing : An enabler for Automatic Target Recognition?
Bovenkamp, E.G.P.; Schutte, K.
2010-01-01
For many decades attempts to accomplish Automatic Target Recognition have been made using both visual and FLIR camera systems. A recurring problem in these approaches is the segmentation problem, which is the separation between the target and its background. This paper describes an approach to
Automatic real-time detection of endoscopic procedures using temporal features.
Stanek, Sean R; Tavanapong, Wallapak; Wong, Johnny; Oh, Jung Hwan; de Groen, Piet C
2012-11-01
Endoscopy is used for inspection of the inner surface of organs such as the colon. During endoscopic inspection of the colon or colonoscopy, a tiny video camera generates a video signal, which is displayed on a monitor for interpretation in real-time by physicians. In practice, these images are not typically captured, which may be attributed by lack of fully automated tools for capturing, analysis of important contents, and quick and easy retrieval of these contents. This paper presents the description and evaluation results of our novel software that uses new metrics based on image color and motion over time to automatically record all images of an individual endoscopic procedure into a single digitized video file. The software automatically discards out-patient video frames between different endoscopic procedures. We validated our software system on 2464 h of live video (over 265 million frames) from endoscopy units where colonoscopy and upper endoscopy were performed. Our previous classification method achieved a frame-based sensitivity of 100.00%, but only a specificity of 89.22%. Our new method achieved a frame-based sensitivity and specificity of 99.90% and 99.97%, a significant improvement. Our system is robust for day-to-day use in medical practice. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Coherent Laser Radar Metrology System for Large Scale Optical Systems, Phase II
National Aeronautics and Space Administration — A new type of laser radar metrology inspection system is proposed that incorporates a novel, dual laser coherent detection scheme capable of eliminating both...
Automated visual inspection of brake shoe wear
Lu, Shengfang; Liu, Zhen; Nan, Guo; Zhang, Guangjun
2015-10-01
With the rapid development of high-speed railway, the automated fault inspection is necessary to ensure train's operation safety. Visual technology is paid more attention in trouble detection and maintenance. For a linear CCD camera, Image alignment is the first step in fault detection. To increase the speed of image processing, an improved scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) method is presented. The image is divided into multiple levels of different resolution. Then, we do not stop to extract the feature from the lowest resolution to the highest level until we get sufficient SIFT key points. At that level, the image is registered and aligned quickly. In the stage of inspection, we devote our efforts to finding the trouble of brake shoe, which is one of the key components in brake system on electrical multiple units train (EMU). Its pre-warning on wear limitation is very important in fault detection. In this paper, we propose an automatic inspection approach to detect the fault of brake shoe. Firstly, we use multi-resolution pyramid template matching technology to fast locate the brake shoe. Then, we employ Hough transform to detect the circles of bolts in brake region. Due to the rigid characteristic of structure, we can identify whether the brake shoe has a fault. The experiments demonstrate that the way we propose has a good performance, and can meet the need of practical applications.
Laboratory evaluation of two x-ray baggage inspection systems
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Schellenbaum, R.L.
1979-06-01
The AS and E Micro-Dose X-ray Baggage Inspection System was designed for high-volume, detailed examination of packages at ultralow x-ray exposure levels. This system is used in airline terminals for the detection of weapons, bombs, and other contraband. It is also employed by security personnel in other facilities to search packages for contraband carried in and out of secured areas. The Micro-Dose system has a unique design concept which includes an Automatic Threat Alert System (ATA) and a zoom display presentation feature
Image formation simulation for computer-aided inspection planning of machine vision systems
Irgenfried, Stephan; Bergmann, Stephan; Mohammadikaji, Mahsa; Beyerer, Jürgen; Dachsbacher, Carsten; Wörn, Heinz
2017-06-01
In this work, a simulation toolset for Computer Aided Inspection Planning (CAIP) of systems for automated optical inspection (AOI) is presented along with a versatile two-robot-setup for verification of simulation and system planning results. The toolset helps to narrow down the large design space of optical inspection systems in interaction with a system expert. The image formation taking place in optical inspection systems is simulated using GPU-based real time graphics and high quality off-line-rendering. The simulation pipeline allows a stepwise optimization of the system, from fast evaluation of surface patch visibility based on real time graphics up to evaluation of image processing results based on off-line global illumination calculation. A focus of this work is on the dependency of simulation quality on measuring, modeling and parameterizing the optical surface properties of the object to be inspected. The applicability to real world problems is demonstrated by taking the example of planning a 3D laser scanner application. Qualitative and quantitative comparison results of synthetic and real images are presented.
A novel visual pipework inspection system
Summan, Rahul; Jackson, William; Dobie, Gordon; MacLeod, Charles; Mineo, Carmelo; West, Graeme; Offin, Douglas; Bolton, Gary; Marshall, Stephen; Lille, Alexandre
2018-04-01
The interior visual inspection of pipelines in the nuclear industry is a safety critical activity conducted during outages to ensure the continued safe and reliable operation of plant. Typically, the video output by a manually deployed probe is viewed by an operator looking to identify and localize surface defects such as corrosion, erosion and pitting. However, it is very challenging to estimate the nature and extent of defects by viewing a large structure through a relatively small field of view. This work describes a new visual inspection system employing photogrammetry using a fisheye camera and a structured light system to map the internal geometry of pipelines by generating a photorealistic, geometrically accurate surface model. The error of the system output was evaluated through comparison to a ground truth laser scan (ATOS GOM Triple Scan) of a nuclear grade split pipe sample (stainless steel 304L, 80mm internal diameter) containing defects representative of the application - the error was found to be submillimeter across the sample.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jean L Rasson
2011-07-01
Full Text Available We report here on the new realization of an automatic fluxgate theodolite able to perform unattended absolute geomagnetic declination and inclination measurements: the AUTODIF MKII. The main changes of this version compared with the former one are presented as well as the better specifications we expect now. We also explain the absolute orientation procedure by means of a laser beam and a corner cube and the method for leveling the fluxgate sensor, which is different from a conventional DIflux theodolite.
Fully automatic CNC machining production system
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lee Jeng-Dao
2017-01-01
Full Text Available Customized manufacturing is increasing years by years. The consumption habits change has been cause the shorter of product life cycle. Therefore, many countries view industry 4.0 as a target to achieve more efficient and more flexible automated production. To develop an automatic loading and unloading CNC machining system via vision inspection is the first step in industrial upgrading. CNC controller is adopted as the main controller to command to the robot, conveyor, and other equipment in this study. Moreover, machine vision systems are used to detect position of material on the conveyor and the edge of the machining material. In addition, Open CNC and SCADA software will be utilized to make real-time monitor, remote system of control, alarm email notification, and parameters collection. Furthermore, RFID has been added to employee classification and management. The machine handshaking has been successfully proposed to achieve automatic vision detect, edge tracing measurement, machining and system parameters collection for data analysis to accomplish industrial automation system integration with real-time monitor.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lin, Chern-Sheng; Loh, Guo-Hao; Fu, Shu-Hsien; Chang, Hsun-Kai; Yang, Shih-Wei; Yeh, Mau-Shiun
2010-01-01
In this paper, an automatic evaluation method for the surface profile of a microlens array using an optical interferometric microscope is presented. For inspecting the microlens array, an XY-table is used to position it. With a He–Ne laser beam and optical fiber as a probing light, the measured image is sent to the computer to analyze the surface profile. By binary image slicing and area recognition, this study located the center of each ring and determined the substrate of the microlens array image through the background of the entire microlens array interference image. The maximum and minimum values of every segment brightness curve were determined corresponding to the change in the segment phase angle from 0° to 180°. According to the ratio of the actual ring area and the ideal ring area, the area ratio method was adopted to find the phase-angle variation of the interference ring. Based on the ratio of actual ring brightness and the ideal ring brightness, the brightness ratio method was used to determine the phase-angle variation of the interference ring fringe. The area ratio method and brightness ratio method are interchangeable in precisely determining the phase angles of the innermost and outermost rings of the interference fringe and obtaining different microlens surface altitudes of respective pixels in the segment, to greatly increase the microlens array surface profile inspection accuracy and quality
Research on Semi-automatic Bomb Fetching for an EOD Robot
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Qian Jun
2008-11-01
Full Text Available An EOD robot system, SUPER-PLUS, which has a novel semi-automatic bomb fetching function is presented in this paper. With limited support of human, SUPER-PLUS scans the cluttered environment with a wrist-mounted laser distance sensor and plans the manipulator a collision free path to fetch the bomb. The model construction of manipulator, bomb and environment, C-space map, path planning and the operation procedure are introduced in detail. The semi-automatic bomb fetching function has greatly improved the operation performance of EOD robot.
Research on Semi-Automatic Bomb Fetching for an EOD Robot
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Zeng Jian-Jun
2007-06-01
Full Text Available An EOD robot system, SUPER-PLUS, which has a novel semi-automatic bomb fetching function is presented in this paper. With limited support of human, SUPER-PLUS scans the cluttered environment with a wrist-mounted laser distance sensor and plans the manipulator a collision free path to fetch the bomb. The model construction of manipulator, bomb and environment, C-space map, path planning and the operation procedure are introduced in detail. The semi-automatic bomb fetching function has greatly improved the operation performance of EOD robot.
Flexible mobile robot system for smart optical pipe inspection
Kampfer, Wolfram; Bartzke, Ralf; Ziehl, Wolfgang
1998-03-01
Damages of pipes can be inspected and graded by TV technology available on the market. Remotely controlled vehicles carry a TV-camera through pipes. Thus, depending on the experience and the capability of the operator, diagnosis failures can not be avoided. The classification of damages requires the knowledge of the exact geometrical dimensions of the damages such as width and depth of cracks, fractures and defect connections. Within the framework of a joint R&D project a sensor based pipe inspection system named RODIAS has been developed with two partners from industry and research institute. It consists of a remotely controlled mobile robot which carries intelligent sensors for on-line sewerage inspection purpose. The sensor is based on a 3D-optical sensor and a laser distance sensor. The laser distance sensor is integrated in the optical system of the camera and can measure the distance between camera and object. The angle of view can be determined from the position of the pan and tilt unit. With coordinate transformations it is possible to calculate the spatial coordinates for every point of the video image. So the geometry of an object can be described exactly. The company Optimess has developed TriScan32, a special software for pipe condition classification. The user can start complex measurements of profiles, pipe displacements or crack widths simply by pressing a push-button. The measuring results are stored together with other data like verbal damage descriptions and digitized images in a data base.
Automatic appraisal of defects in irradiated pins by eddy current testing
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Marsol, R.; Cornu, B.
1986-10-01
Eddy current testing is very efficient to inspect the sheaths of spent fuel elements. Automation of the process is developed to replace visual examination of recorded eddy current signals. The method is applied to austenitic steel fuel cans for fast neutron reactors to detect cracks, voids, inclusions... The different types of defects and experimental processes are recalled then automatic detection and the method for defect qualification are presented [fr
Sattarpanah Karganroudi, Sasan
The competitive industrial market demands manufacturing companies to provide the markets with a higher quality of production. The quality control department in industrial sectors verifies geometrical requirements of products with consistent tolerances. These requirements are presented in Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) standards. However, conventional measuring and dimensioning methods for manufactured parts are time-consuming and costly. Nowadays manual and tactile measuring methods have been replaced by Computer-Aided Inspection (CAI) methods. The CAI methods apply improvements in computational calculations and 3-D data acquisition devices (scanners) to compare the scan mesh of manufactured parts with the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) model. Metrology standards, such as ASME-Y14.5 and ISO-GPS, require implementing the inspection in free-state, wherein the part is only under its weight. Non-rigid parts are exempted from the free-state inspection rule because of their significant geometrical deviation in a free-state with respect to the tolerances. Despite the developments in CAI methods, inspection of non-rigid parts still remains a serious challenge. Conventional inspection methods apply complex fixtures for non-rigid parts to retrieve the functional shape of these parts on physical fixtures; however, the fabrication and setup of these fixtures are sophisticated and expensive. The cost of fixtures has doubled since the client and manufacturing sectors require repetitive and independent inspection fixtures. To eliminate the need for costly and time-consuming inspection fixtures, fixtureless inspection methods of non-rigid parts based on CAI methods have been developed. These methods aim at distinguishing flexible deformations of parts in a free-state from defects. Fixtureless inspection methods are required to be automatic, reliable, reasonably accurate and repeatable for non-rigid parts with complex shapes. The scan model, which is acquired as point
Chong, See Yenn; Victor, Jared J.; Todd, Michael D.
2017-04-01
In this paper, a full-field ultrasonic guided wave method is proposed to inspect a composite sandwich specimen made for an aircraft engine nacelle. The back skin/core interface of the specimen is built with two fabricated disbond defects (diameters of 12.7 mm and 25.4 mm) by removing areas of the adhesive used to bond the back skin to the core. A laser ultrasonic interrogation system (LUIS) incorporated with a disbond detection algorithm is developed. The system consists of a 1-kHz laser ultrasonic scanning system and a single fixed ultrasonic sensor to interrogate ultrasonic guided waves in the sandwich specimen. The interest area of 400 mm × 400 mm is scanned at a 0.5 mm scan interval. The corresponding full-field ultrasonic data is obtained and generated in the three-dimensional (3-D) space-time domain. Then, the 3-D full-field ultrasonic data is Fourier transformed and the ultrasonic frequency spectra are analyzed to determine the dominant frequency that is sensitive to the disbond defects. Continuous wavelet transform (CWT) based on fast Fourier transform (FFT) is implemented as a single-frequency bandpass filter to filter the full-field ultrasonic data in the 3-D space-time domain at the selected dominant frequency. The LUIS has shown the ability to detect the disbond with diameters of 11 mm and 23 mm which match to the pre-determined disbond sizes well. For future research, a robust signal processing algorithm and a model-based matched filter will be investigated to make the detection process autonomous and improve detectability
In-service inspection of the vessels of nuclear submarine reactors
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Saglio, R.; Mercier L'Abbe, G.
1977-02-01
Description is given of a machine of automatic inspection of the reactor vessels of nuclear submarines, that was developed by the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). A focused ultrasound testing method is used. The equipment such described meets the safety requirements prescribed for the primary circuits of nuclear submarine boiler plants. The sensitivity and resolution power of the apparatus allow such high precision to be obtained as rupture mechanics gains a credibility that could not have been obtained with using conventional apparatus [fr
Technique for rapid at-wavelength inspection of extreme ultraviolet mask blanks
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Spector, S. J.; White, D. L.; Tennant, D. M.; Ocola, L. E.; Novembre, A. E.; Peabody, M. L.; Wood, O. R. II
1999-01-01
We have developed two new methods for at-wavelength inspection of mask blanks for extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. In one method an EUV photoresist is applied directly to a mask blank which is then flood exposed with EUV light and partially developed. In the second method, the photoresist is applied to an EUV transparent membrane that is placed in close proximity to the mask and then exposed and developed. Both reflectivity defects and phase defects alter the exposure of the resist, resulting in mounds of resist at defect sites that can then be located by visual inspection. In the direct application method, a higher contrast resist was shown to increase the height of the mounds, thereby improving the sensitivity of the technique. In the membrane method, a holographic technique was used to reconstruct an image of the mask, revealing the presence of very small defects, approximately 0.2 μm in size. The demonstrated clean transfer of phase and amplitude defects to resist features on a membrane will be important when flagging defects in an automatic inspection tool. (c) 1999 American Vacuum Society
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Minsu; Shim, Hye Won; Jo, Seong Yeon; Lee, Kwang Yeol; Ban, Myoung Jin
2014-01-01
Short Notice Random Inspection (SNRI) is a new IAEA safeguards inspection regime for bulk handing facility, which utilities random inspection through a mailbox system. Its main objective is to verify 100% of the flow components of the safeguarded nuclear material at such a facility. To achieve the SNRI objective, it is required to provide daily mailbox declaration, by a facility's operator, to the IAEA with regard to information, such as the receipt and shipment of nuclear materials. Mailbox declarations are then later compared with accounting records so as to examine the accuracy and consistency of the facility operator's declaration at the time of the SNRI. The IAEA has emphasized the importance of accurate mailbox declarations and recommended that the ROK initiate its own independent quality control system in order to improve and maintain its mailbox declarations as a part of the SSAC activities. In an effort to improve the transparency of operational activities at fuel fabrication plants and to satisfy IAEA recommendation, an automatic quality check software application has been developed to improve mailbox declarations at fabrication plants in Korea. The ROK and the IAEA have recognized the importance of providing good quality mailbox declaration for an effective and efficient SNRI at fuel fabrication plants in Korea. The SRA developed an automatic quality check software program in order to provide an independent QC system of mailbox declaration, as well as to improve the quality of mailbox declaration. Once the automatic QC system is implemented, it will improve the quality of an operator's mailbox declaration by examining data before sending it to the IAEA. The QC system will be applied to fuel fabrication plants in the first half of 2014
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Carvalho, A.A.; Rebello, J.M.A.; Souza, M.P.V.; Sagrilo, L.V.S.; Soares, S.D.
2008-01-01
The aim of this work is to evaluate the reliability of non-destructive test (NDT) techniques for the inspection of pipeline welds employed in the petroleum industry. Radiography, manual and automatic ultrasonic techniques using pulse-echo and time of flight diffraction (TOFD) were employed. Three classes of defects were analyzed: lack of penetration (LP), lack of fusion (LF) and undercut (UC). The tests were carried out on specimen made from pipelines containing defects, which had been artificially inserted on laying the weld bead. The results showed the superiority of the automatic ultrasonic tests for defect detection compared with the manual ultrasonic and radiographic tests. Additionally, artificial neural networks (ANN) were used in the detection and automatic classification of the defects
46 CFR 153.812 - Inspection for Certificate of Inspection.
2010-10-01
... 46 Shipping 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Inspection for Certificate of Inspection. 153.812... CARGOES SHIPS CARRYING BULK LIQUID, LIQUEFIED GAS, OR COMPRESSED GAS HAZARDOUS MATERIALS Design and Equipment Testing and Inspection § 153.812 Inspection for Certificate of Inspection. The rules governing the...
Tracking frequency laser distance gauge
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Phillips, J.D.; Reasenberg, R.D.
2005-01-01
Advanced astronomical missions with greatly enhanced resolution and physics missions of unprecedented accuracy will require laser distance gauges of substantially improved performance. We describe a laser gauge, based on Pound-Drever-Hall locking, in which the optical frequency is adjusted to maintain an interferometer's null condition. This technique has been demonstrated with pm performance. Automatic fringe hopping allows it to track arbitrary distance changes. The instrument is intrinsically free of the nm-scale cyclic bias present in traditional (heterodyne) high-precision laser gauges. The output is a radio frequency, readily measured to sufficient accuracy. The laser gauge has operated in a resonant cavity, which improves precision, can suppress the effects of misalignments, and makes possible precise automatic alignment. The measurement of absolute distance requires little or no additional hardware, and has also been demonstrated. The proof-of-concept version, based on a stabilized HeNe laser and operating on a 0.5 m path, has achieved 10 pm precision with 0.1 s integration time, and 0.1 mm absolute distance accuracy. This version has also followed substantial distance changes as fast as 16 mm/s. We show that, if the precision in optical frequency is a fixed fraction of the linewidth, both incremental and absolute distance precision are independent of the distance measured. We discuss systematic error sources, and present plans for a new version of the gauge based on semiconductor lasers and fiber-coupled components
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Celestino Ordóñez
2017-06-01
Full Text Available Mobile laser scanning (MLS is a modern and powerful technology capable of obtaining massive point clouds of objects in a short period of time. Although this technology is nowadays being widely applied in urban cartography and 3D city modelling, it has some drawbacks that need to be avoided in order to strengthen it. One of the most important shortcomings of MLS data is concerned with the fact that it provides an unstructured dataset whose processing is very time-consuming. Consequently, there is a growing interest in developing algorithms for the automatic extraction of useful information from MLS point clouds. This work is focused on establishing a methodology and developing an algorithm to detect pole-like objects and classify them into several categories using MLS datasets. The developed procedure starts with the discretization of the point cloud by means of a voxelization, in order to simplify and reduce the processing time in the segmentation process. In turn, a heuristic segmentation algorithm was developed to detect pole-like objects in the MLS point cloud. Finally, two supervised classification algorithms, linear discriminant analysis and support vector machines, were used to distinguish between the different types of poles in the point cloud. The predictors are the principal component eigenvalues obtained from the Cartesian coordinates of the laser points, the range of the Z coordinate, and some shape-related indexes. The performance of the method was tested in an urban area with 123 poles of different categories. Very encouraging results were obtained, since the accuracy rate was over 90%.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Itoga, Kouyu; Sugimoto, Koji; Michiba, Koji; Kato, Yuhei; Sugita, Yuji; Onda, Katsuhiro.
1991-01-01
The application of computers to welding inspection is expanding rapidly. The classification of the application is the collection, analysis and processing of data, the graphic display of results, the distinction of the kinds of defects and the evaluation of the harmufulness of defects and the judgement of acceptance or rejection. The application of computer techniques to the automation of data collection was realized at the relatively early stage. Data processing and the graphic display of results are the techniques in progress now, and the application of artificial intelligence to the distinction of the kinds of defects and the evaluation of harmfulness is expected to expand rapidly. In order to computerize radiographic inspection, the abilities of image processing technology and knowledge engineering must be given to computers. The object of this system is the butt joints by arc welding of the steel materials of up to 30 mm thickness. The digitizing transformation of radiographs, the distinction and evaluation of transmissivity and gradation by image processing, and only as for those, of which the picture quality satisfies the standard, the extraction of defect images, their display, the distinction of the kinds and the final judgement are carried out. The techniques of image processing, the knowledge for distinguishing the kinds of defects and the concept of the practical system are reported. (K.I.)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hwang, Suk Young; Kim, Chul Jung; Baik, Sung Hoon; Cho, Jai Wan; Park, Seung Kyu
1999-12-01
We developed 3D laser camera sensors for weld seam tracking and inspection of radioactive NPP pipes. The developed sensor's optical system adopts the optical triangulation method with the line beam generation and imaging optics. A laser line extraction algorithm accompanying preprocessing of noise reduction has been developed on images captured from the sensor. Experimental results validate the physical accuracy of the sensor hardware and the robustness of the image processing algorithms. A 3D shape reconstruction algorithm from multiple laser lines was proposed and the resulting 3D shape was visualized on the developed 3D graphic program environment utilizing OpenGL graphic libraries. And also, two D.O.F precise servo controlled mechanism was developed. The experimental results on weld seam tracking and inspection tasks show the practical feasibility of the developed sensors and the image processing algorithms. (author)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hwang, Suk Young; Kim, Chul Jung; Baik, Sung Hoon; Cho, Jai Wan; Park, Seung Kyu
1999-12-01
We developed 3D laser camera sensors for weld seam tracking and inspection of radioactive NPP pipes. The developed sensor's optical system adopts the optical triangulation method with the line beam generation and imaging optics. A laser line extraction algorithm accompanying preprocessing of noise reduction has been developed on images captured from the sensor. Experimental results validate the physical accuracy of the sensor hardware and the robustness of the image processing algorithms. A 3D shape reconstruction algorithm from multiple laser lines was proposed and the resulting 3D shape was visualized on the developed 3D graphic program environment utilizing OpenGL graphic libraries. And also, two D.O.F precise servo controlled mechanism was developed. The experimental results on weld seam tracking and inspection tasks show the practical feasibility of the developed sensors and the image processing algorithms. (author)
Quality Assurance By Laser Scanning And Imaging Techniques
SchmalfuB, Harald J.; Schinner, Karl Ludwig
1989-03-01
Laser scanning systems are well established in the world of fast industrial in-process quality inspection systems. The materials inspected by laser scanning systems are e.g. "endless" sheets of steel, paper, textile, film or foils. The web width varies from 50 mm up to 5000 mm or more. The web speed depends strongly on the production process and can reach several hundred meters per minute. The continuous data flow in one of different channels of the optical receiving system exceeds ten Megapixels/sec. Therefore it is clear that the electronic evaluation system has to process these data streams in real time and no image storage is possible. But sometimes (e.g. first installation of the system, change of the defect classification) it would be very helpful to have the possibility for a visual look on the original, i.e. not processed sensor data. At first we show the principle set up of a standard laser scanning system. Then we will introduce a large image memory especially designed for the needs of high-speed inspection sensors. This image memory co-operates with the standard on-line evaluation electronics and provides therefore an easy comparison between processed and non-processed data. We will discuss the basic system structure and we will show the first industrial results.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hervas, Jaime Rubio; Tang, Hui [School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798 (Singapore); Reyhanoglu, Mahmut [Physical Sciences Department, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL 32114 (United States)
2014-12-10
This paper presents a motion tracking and control system for automatically landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on an oscillating platform using Laser Radar (LADAR) observations. The system itself is assumed to be mounted on a ship deck. A full nonlinear mathematical model is first introduced for the UAV. The ship motion is characterized by a Fourier transform based method which includes a realistic characterization of the sea waves. LADAR observation models are introduced and an algorithm to process those observations for yielding the relative state between the vessel and the UAV is presented, from which the UAV's state relative to an inertial frame can be obtained and used for feedback purposes. A sliding mode control algorithm is derived for tracking a landing trajectory defined by a set of desired waypoints. An extended Kalman filter (EKF) is proposed to account for process and observation noises in the design of a state estimator. The effectiveness of the control algorithm is illustrated through a simulation example.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hervas, Jaime Rubio; Tang, Hui; Reyhanoglu, Mahmut
2014-01-01
This paper presents a motion tracking and control system for automatically landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on an oscillating platform using Laser Radar (LADAR) observations. The system itself is assumed to be mounted on a ship deck. A full nonlinear mathematical model is first introduced for the UAV. The ship motion is characterized by a Fourier transform based method which includes a realistic characterization of the sea waves. LADAR observation models are introduced and an algorithm to process those observations for yielding the relative state between the vessel and the UAV is presented, from which the UAV's state relative to an inertial frame can be obtained and used for feedback purposes. A sliding mode control algorithm is derived for tracking a landing trajectory defined by a set of desired waypoints. An extended Kalman filter (EKF) is proposed to account for process and observation noises in the design of a state estimator. The effectiveness of the control algorithm is illustrated through a simulation example
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gao Qingji
2014-04-01
Full Text Available Airport passengers are required to put only one baggage each time in the check-in self-service so that the baggage can be detected and identified successfully. In order to automatically get the number of baggage that had been put on the conveyor belt, dual laser rangefinders are used to scan the outer contour of luggage in this paper. The algorithm based on hierarchical clustering and cube-fitting is proposed to inspect the number and dimension of airline luggage. Firstly, the point cloud is projected to vertical direction. By the analysis of one-dimensional clustering, the number and height of luggage will be quickly computed. Secondly, the method of nearest hierarchical clustering is applied to divide the point cloud if the above cannot be distinguished. It can preferably solve the difficult issue like crossing or overlapping pieces of baggage. Finally, the point cloud is projected to the horizontal plane. By rotating point cloud based on the centre, its minimum bounding rectangle (MBR is obtained. The length and width of luggage are got form MBR. Many experiments in different cases have been done to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Korosec, D.; Levstek, M.F.
2001-01-01
Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) division of nuclear and radiological safety inspection has developed systematic approach to their inspections. To be efficient in their efforts regarding regular and other types of inspections, in past years, the inspection plan has been developed. It is yearly based and organized on a such systematic way, that all areas of nuclear safety important activities of the licensee are covered. The inspection plan assures appropriate preparation for conducting the inspections, allows the overview of the progress regarding the areas to be covered during the year. Depending on the licensee activities and nature of facility (nuclear power plant, research reactor, radioactive waste storage, others), the plan has different levels of intensity of inspections and also their frequency. One of the basic approaches of the plan is to cover all nuclear and radiological important activities on such way, that all regulatory requests are fulfilled. In addition, the inspection plan is a good tool to improve inspection effectiveness based on previous experience and allows to have the oversight of the current status of fulfillment of planned inspections. Future improvement of the plan is necessary in the light of newest achievements on this field in the nuclear world, that means, new types of inspections are planned and will be incorporated into plan in next year.(author)
Development of pipe welding, cutting and inspection tools for the ITER blanket
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Oka, Kiyoshi; Ito, Akira; Taguchi, Kou; Takiguchi, Yuji; Takahashi, Hiroyuki; Tada, Eisuke
1999-07-01
In D-T burning reactors such as International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), an internal access welding/cutting of blanket cooling pipe with bend sections is inevitably required because of spatial constraint due to nuclear shield and available port opening space. For this purpose, internal access pipe welding/cutting/inspection tools for manifolds and branch pipes are being developed according to the agreement of the ITER R and D task (T329). A design concept of welding/cutting processing head with a flexible optical fiber has been developed and the basic feasibility studies on welding, cutting and rewelding are performed using stainless steel plate (SS316L). In the same way, a design concept of inspection head with a non-destructive inspection probe (including a leak-testing probe) has been developed and the basic characteristic tests are performed using welded stainless steel pipes. In this report, the details of welding/cutting/inspection heads for manifolds and branch pipes are described, together with the basic experiment results relating to the welding/cutting and inspection. In addition, details of a composite type optical fiber, which can transmit both the high-power YAG laser and visible rays, is described. (author)
Scanning laser Doppler vibrometry
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Brøns, Marie; Thomsen, Jon Juel
With a Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer (SLDV) a vibrating surface is automatically scanned over predefined grid points, and data processed for displaying vibration properties like mode shapes, natural frequencies, damping ratios, and operational deflection shapes. Our SLDV – a PSV-500H from...
Automated Visual Inspection of Ship Hull Surfaces Using the Wavelet Transform
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Carlos Fernández-Isla
2013-01-01
Full Text Available A new online visual inspection technique is proposed, based on a wavelet reconstruction scheme over images obtained from the hull. This type of visual inspection to detect defects in hull surfaces is commonly carried out at shipyards by human inspectors before the hull repair task starts. We propose the use of Shannon entropy for automatic selection of the band for image reconstruction which provides a low decomposition level, thus avoiding excessive degradation of the image, allowing more precise defect segmentation. The proposed method here is capable of on-line assisting to a robotic system to perform grit blasting operations over damage areas of ship hulls. This solution allows a reliable and cost-effective operation for hull grit spot blasting. A prototype of the automated blasting system has been developed and tested in the Spanish NAVANTIA shipyards.
Anding, K.; Kuritcyn, P.; Garten, D.
2016-11-01
In this paper a new method for the automatic visual inspection of metallic surfaces is proposed by using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). The different combinations of network parameters were developed and tested. The obtained results of CNN were analysed and compared with the results of our previous investigations with color and texture features as input parameters for a Support Vector Machine. Advantages and disadvantages of the different classifying methods are explained.
Castellazzi, Giovanni; D'Altri, Antonio Maria; Bitelli, Gabriele; Selvaggi, Ilenia; Lambertini, Alessandro
2015-07-28
In this paper, a new semi-automatic procedure to transform three-dimensional point clouds of complex objects to three-dimensional finite element models is presented and validated. The procedure conceives of the point cloud as a stacking of point sections. The complexity of the clouds is arbitrary, since the procedure is designed for terrestrial laser scanner surveys applied to buildings with irregular geometry, such as historical buildings. The procedure aims at solving the problems connected to the generation of finite element models of these complex structures by constructing a fine discretized geometry with a reduced amount of time and ready to be used with structural analysis. If the starting clouds represent the inner and outer surfaces of the structure, the resulting finite element model will accurately capture the whole three-dimensional structure, producing a complex solid made by voxel elements. A comparison analysis with a CAD-based model is carried out on a historical building damaged by a seismic event. The results indicate that the proposed procedure is effective and obtains comparable models in a shorter time, with an increased level of automation.
Multispectral fluorescence imaging techniques for nondestructive food safety inspection
Kim, Moon S.; Lefcourt, Alan M.; Chen, Yud-Ren
2004-03-01
The use of spectral sensing has gained acceptance as a rapid means for nondestructive inspection of postharvest food produce. Current technologies generally use color or a single wavelength camera technology. The applicability and sensitivity of these techniques can be expanded through the use of multiple wavelengths. Reflectance in the Vis/NIR is the prevalent spectral technique. Fluorescence, compared to reflectance, is regarded as a more sensitive technique due to its dynamic responses to subtle changes in biological entities. Our laboratory has been exploring fluorescence as a potential means for detection of quality and wholesomeness of food products. Applications of fluorescence sensing require an understanding of the spectral characteristics emanating from constituents and potential contaminants. A number of factors affecting fluorescence emission characteristics are discussed. Because of relatively low fluorescence quantum yield from biological samples, a system with a powerful pulse light source such as a laser coupled with a gated detection device is used to harvest fluorescence, in the presence of ambient light. Several fluorescence sensor platforms developed in our laboratory, including hyperspectral imaging, and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and steady-state fluorescence imaging systems with multispectral capabilities are presented. We demonstrate the potential uses of recently developed fluorescence imaging platforms in food safety inspection of apples contaminated with animal feces.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nikolaos Alachiotis
2013-03-01
Full Text Available Automated DNA sequencers generate chromatograms that contain raw sequencing data. They also generate data that translates the chromatograms into molecular sequences of A, C, G, T, or N (undetermined characters. Since chromatogram translation programs frequently introduce errors, a manual inspection of the generated sequence data is required. As sequence numbers and lengths increase, visual inspection and manual correction of chromatograms and corresponding sequences on a per-peak and per-nucleotide basis becomes an error-prone, time-consuming, and tedious process. Here, we introduce ChromatoGate (CG, an open-source software that accelerates and partially automates the inspection of chromatograms and the detection of sequencing errors for bidirectional sequencing runs. To provide users full control over the error correction process, a fully automated error correction algorithm has not been implemented. Initially, the program scans a given multiple sequence alignment (MSA for potential sequencing errors, assuming that each polymorphic site in the alignment may be attributed to a sequencing error with a certain probability. The guided MSA assembly procedure in ChromatoGate detects chromatogram peaks of all characters in an alignment that lead to polymorphic sites, given a user-defined threshold. The threshold value represents the sensitivity of the sequencing error detection mechanism. After this pre-filtering, the user only needs to inspect a small number of peaks in every chromatogram to correct sequencing errors. Finally, we show that correcting sequencing errors is important, because population genetic and phylogenetic inferences can be misled by MSAs with uncorrected mis-calls. Our experiments indicate that estimates of population mutation rates can be affected two- to three-fold by uncorrected errors.
A laser metrology/viewing system for ITER in-vessel inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Spampinato, P.T.; Barry, R.E.; Chesser, J.B.; Herndon, J.N.; Menon, M.M.; Slotwinski, A.; Dagher, M.A.; Yuen, J.L.
1998-01-01
This paper identifies the requirements for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor metrology and viewing system, and describes a remotely operated precision surface mapping system. A metrology system capable of achieving sub-millimeter accuracy must operate in a reactor vessel that has high gamma radiation, high vacuum, elevated temperature, and magnetic field. A coherent, frequency modulated laser radar system is under development to meet these requirements. The metrology/viewing sensor consists of a compact laser optics module linked through fiber optics to the laser source and imaging units, located outside the harsh environment. The deployment mechanism is a remotely operated telescopic-mast. Gamma irradiation to 10 7 Gy was conducted on critical sensor components at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with no significant impact to data transmission, and analysis indicates that critical sensor components can operate in a magnetic field with certain design modifications. Plans for testing key components in a magnetic field are underway. (orig.)
Mid-IR laser ultrasonic testing for fiber reinforced plastics
Kusano, Masahiro; Hatano, Hideki; Oguchi, Kanae; Yamawaki, Hisashi; Watanabe, Makoto; Enoki, Manabu
2018-04-01
Ultrasonic testing is the most common method to detect defects in materials and evaluate their sizes and locations. Since piezo-electric transducers are manually handled from point to point, it takes more costs for huge products such as airplanes. Laser ultrasonic testing (LUT) is a breakthrough technique. A pulsed laser generates ultrasonic waves on a material surface due to thermoelastic effect or ablation. The ultrasonic waves can be detected by another laser with an interferometer. Thus, LUT can realize instantaneous inspection without contacting a sample. A pulse laser with around 3.2 μm wavelength (in the mid-IR range) is more suitable to generate ultrasonic waves for fiber reinforced plastics (FRPs) because the light is well absorbed by the polymeric matrix. On the other hand, such a laser is not available in the market. In order to emit the mid-IR laser pulse, we came up with the application of an optical parametric oscillator and developed an efficient wavelength conversion device by pumping a compact Nd:YAG solid-state laser. Our mid-IR LUT system is most suitable for inspection of FRPs. The signal-to-noise ratio of ultrasonic waves generated by the mid-IR laser is higher than that by the Nd:YAG laser. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the performance of the mid-IR LUT system in reflection mode. We investigated the effects of the material properties and the laser properties on the generated ultrasonic waves. In addition, C-scan images by the system were also presented.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yamada, Koji
1987-01-01
Automatic handling device for the steam relief valves (SRV's) is developed in order to achieve a decrease in exposure of workers, increase in availability factor, improvement in reliability, improvement in safety of operation, and labor saving. A survey is made during a periodical inspection to examine the actual SVR handling operation. An SRV automatic handling device consists of four components: conveyor, armed conveyor, lifting machine, and control/monitoring system. The conveyor is so designed that the existing I-rail installed in the containment vessel can be used without any modification. This is employed for conveying an SRV along the rail. The armed conveyor, designed for a box rail, is used for an SRV installed away from the rail. By using the lifting machine, an SRV installed away from the I-rail is brought to a spot just below the rail so that the SRV can be transferred by the conveyor. The control/monitoring system consists of a control computer, operation panel, TV monitor and annunciator. The SRV handling device is operated by remote control from a control room. A trial equipment is constructed and performance/function testing is carried out using actual SRV's. As a result, is it shown that the SRV handling device requires only two operators to serve satisfactorily. The required time for removal and replacement of one SRV is about 10 minutes. (Nogami, K.)
Guided Wave Sensing In a Carbon Steel Pipe Using a Laser Vibrometer System
Ruíz Toledo, Abelardo; Salazar Soler, Jordi; Chávez Domínguez, Juan Antonio; García Hernández, Miguel Jesús; Turó Peroy, Antoni
2010-05-01
Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques have achieved a great development during the last decades as a valuable tool for material characterization, manufacturing control and structural integrity tests. Among these tools, the guided wave technology has been rapidly extended because it reduces inspection time and costs compared to the ordinary point by point testing in large structures, as well as because of the possibility of inspecting under insulation and coating conditions. This fast development has motivated the creation of several inspection and material characterization systems including different technologies which can be combined with this technique. Different measurements systems based on laser techniques have been presented in order to inspect pipes, plates and diverse structures. Many of them are experimental systems of high cost and complexity which combine the employment of a laser for generation of waves in the structure and an interferometer for detection. Some of them employ air-coupled ultrasound generation transducers, with high losses in air and which demand high energy for exciting waves in materials of high stiffness. The combined employment of a commercial vibrometer system for Lamb wave sensing in plates has been successfully shown in the literature. In this paper we present a measurement system based on the combined employment of a piezoelectric wedge transducer and a laser vibrometer to sense guided acoustic waves in carbon steel pipes. The measurement system here presented is mainly compounded of an angular wedge transducer, employed to generate the guided wave and a commercial laser vibrometer used in the detection process. The wedge transducer is excited by means of a signal function generator whose output signal has been amplified with a power signal amplifier. A high precision positioning system is employed to place the laser beam at different points through the pipe surface. The signal detected by the laser vibrometer system is
Automatic identification of corrosion damage using image processing techniques
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Bento, Mariana P.; Ramalho, Geraldo L.B.; Medeiros, Fatima N.S. de; Ribeiro, Elvis S. [Universidade Federal do Ceara (UFC), Fortaleza, CE (Brazil); Medeiros, Luiz C.L. [Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PETROBRAS), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)
2009-07-01
This paper proposes a Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) method for atmospheric corrosion detection on metallic surfaces using digital images. In this study, the uniform corrosion is characterized by texture attributes extracted from co-occurrence matrix and the Self Organizing Mapping (SOM) clustering algorithm. We present a technique for automatic inspection of oil and gas storage tanks and pipelines of petrochemical industries without disturbing their properties and performance. Experimental results are promising and encourage the possibility of using this methodology in designing trustful and robust early failure detection systems. (author)
High throughput web inspection system using time-stretch real-time imaging
Kim, Chanju
Photonic time-stretch is a novel technology that enables capturing of fast, rare and non-repetitive events. Therefore, it operates in real-time with ability to record over long period of time while having fine temporal resolution. The powerful property of photonic time-stretch has already been employed in various fields of application such as analog-to-digital conversion, spectroscopy, laser scanner and microscopy. Further expanding the scope, we fully exploit the time-stretch technology to demonstrate a high throughput web inspection system. Web inspection, namely surface inspection is a nondestructive evaluation method which is crucial for semiconductor wafer and thin film production. We successfully report a dark-field web inspection system with line scan speed of 90.9 MHz which is up to 1000 times faster than conventional inspection instruments. The manufacturing of high quality semiconductor wafer and thin film may directly benefit from this technology as it can easily locate defects with area of less than 10 microm x 10 microm where it allows maximum web flow speed of 1.8 km/s. The thesis provides an overview of our web inspection technique, followed by description of the photonic time-stretch technique which is the keystone in our system. A detailed explanation of each component is covered to provide quantitative understanding of the system. Finally, imaging results from a hard-disk sample and flexible films are presented along with performance analysis of the system. This project was the first application of time-stretch to industrial inspection, and was conducted under financial support and with close involvement by Hitachi, Ltd.
Advanced inspection technology for non intrusive inspection (NII) program
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zamir Mohamed Daud
2003-01-01
In the current economic environment, plants and facilities are under pressure to introduced cost saving as well as profit maximising measures. Among the many changes in the way things are run is a move towards Risk Based Inspection (RBI), with an emphasis on longer operating periods between shutdowns as well as to utilise components to their maximum capability. Underpinning and RBI program requires good data from an effective online inspections program, which would not require the shutdown of critical components. One methodology of online inspection is known as Non Intrusive Inspection (NII), an inspection philosophy with the objective of replacing internal inspection of a vessel by doing Non Destructive Testing (NDT) and inspections externally. To this end, a variety of advanced NDT techniques are needed to provide accurate online measurements. (Author)
An intelligent inspection and survey robot
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Byrd, J.; Holland, J.M.
1995-01-01
ARIES (Autonomous Robotic Inspection Experimental System) is a semi-autonomous robotic system intended for use in the automatic inspection of stored containers of low level nuclear waste. The project is being performed by a team under the SCUREF (South Carolina University Research and Education Foundation) comprised of the University of South Carolina, and Clemson University, and their industrial partner Cybermotion Inc., with funding from METC, Morgantown, WV. The ARIES program is unusual in the level of cooperation between the universities and Cybermotion. By maintaining daily communications via telephone and E-Mall, participating in frequent meetings with each other and the end users, and by developing an open flow of (sometimes sensitive) technical information, the team has been able to build on a very broad base of intellectual strengths and existing technology without wasteful duplication. This base includes all of the navigation and control software and hardware developed by Cybermotion over nearly a decade and the deep technology resources of the university partners. It is anticipated that the result will be a technically advanced system that is much closer to a deployable configuration than is typical for this stage of research. In this decade of shrinking budgets, such relationships can provide a crucial advantage for all participants
Intelligent control and automation technology for nuclear application
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Jae Hee; Eom, Heung Sub; Kim, Ko Ryu; Lee, Jae Cheol; Choi, You Rak; Lee, Soo Cheol
1996-06-01
Using recent technologies on a mobile robot and computer science, we developed an automatic inspection system for weld lines of the reactor pressure vessel. The ultrasonic inspection of the reactor pressure vessel is currently performed by commercialized robot manipulators. Since, however, the conventional fixed type robot manipulator is very huge, heavy and expensive, it needs long inspection time and is hard to handle and maintain. In order to resolve these problems, we developed a new inspection automation system using a small mobile robot crawling on the vertical wall. According to the conceptual design studied in the first year, we developed the inspection automation system including an underwater inspection robot, a laser position control subsystem and a main control subsystem. And we carried out underwater experiments on the reactor vessel mockup. After finishing this project successfully, we have a plan to commercialize our inspection system. Using this system, we can expect much reduction of the inspection time, performance enhancement, automatic management of inspection history, etc. In the economic point of view, we can also expect import substitution more than 5 million dollars. The established essential technologies for intelligent control and automation are expected to be synthetically applied to the automation of similar systems in nuclear power plants. 4 tabs., 37 figs., 6 refs. (Author)
Laser application maintenance technologies for nuclear power plant
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Shima, Seishi; Sato, Kenji; Kobayashi, Masahiro; Sano, Yuji; Kimura, Seiichiro
2000-01-01
Several plants that were the first to be constructed in Japan have been operating for more than 20 years now, and preventive maintenance is therefore a matter of great importance. This paper summarizes the status of applied laser maintenance technologies both preventive and repair. Especially for the laser peening and laser de-sensitization treatment technology, field applications were also described in detail. In future, expansion of field application area on the preventive maintenance, repair and inspection technologies will be developed. (author)
Remote visual inspection of nuclear fuel pellets with fiber optics and video image processing
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Moore, F.W.
1987-01-01
Westinghouse Hanford Company has designed and constructed a nuclear fuel fabrication process line for the U.S. Department of Energy. This process line includes a system that remotely inspects the cylindrical surface of nuclear fuel pellets for surface spots, flaws, or discoloration. The pellets are inspected on a 100% basis after pellet sintering. A feeder delivers the pellets directly to a fiber optic inspection head, which views one pellet surface at a time and images it to a closed-circuit color television camera (CCTV). The output signal of the CCTV is input to a digital imaging processor that stores approximately 25 pellet images at a time. A human operator visually examines the images of the pellet surfaces on a high resolution monitor and accepts or rejects the pellets based on visual standards. The operator uses a digitizing tablet to record the location of rejected pellets, which are then automatically removed from the product stream. The system is expandable to automated disposition of the pellet surface image
Equipment for functional testing of the ALADIN TXA pulsed laser head
Emanuele, Stucchi; Franco, Trespidi; Enzo, Nava
2017-11-01
It is described a measurement instrument, used as Optical Ground Support Equipment, capable of performing the characterization of a pulsed laser beam. The instrument was developed for the functional testing of the EQM and FMs of the ALADIN laser transmitter (TXA). The performed measurements are: beam shaping, M2 measurement, beam angular stability, energy and wavelength measurements, pulse duration, polarization, pulse shape and spectral characterization, optical frequency stability measurement. The measurement system can work in automatic mode performing several measurements and providing automatic report generation.
A bar-code reader for an alpha-beta automatic counting system - FAG
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Levinson, S; Shemesh, Y; Ankry, N; Assido, H; German, U; Peled, O [Israel Atomic Energy Commission, Beersheba (Israel). Nuclear Research Center-Negev
1996-12-01
A bar-code laser system for sample number reading was integrated into the FAG Alpha-Beta automatic counting system. The sample identification by means of an attached bar-code label enables unmistakable and reliable attribution of results to the counted sample. Installation of the bar-code reader system required several modifications: Mechanical changes in the automatic sample changer, design and production of new sample holders, modification of the sample planchettes, changes in the electronic system, update of the operating software of the system (authors).
A bar-code reader for an alpha-beta automatic counting system - FAG
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Levinson, S.; Shemesh, Y.; Ankry, N.; Assido, H.; German, U.; Peled, O.
1996-01-01
A bar-code laser system for sample number reading was integrated into the FAG Alpha-Beta automatic counting system. The sample identification by means of an attached bar-code label enables unmistakable and reliable attribution of results to the counted sample. Installation of the bar-code reader system required several modifications: Mechanical changes in the automatic sample changer, design and production of new sample holders, modification of the sample planchettes, changes in the electronic system, update of the operating software of the system (authors)
A study on laser-based ultrasonic technique by the use of guided wave tomographic imaging
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Park, Junpil, E-mail: jpp@pusan.ac.kr; Lim, Juyoung, E-mail: jpp@pusan.ac.kr [Graduate school, School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Younho [School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University (Korea, Republic of); Krishnaswamy, Sridhar [Center for Quality Engineering and Failure Prevention, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (United States)
2015-03-31
Guided wave tests are impractical for investigating specimens with limited accessibility and coarse surfaces or geometrically complicated features. A non-contact setup with a laser ultrasonic transmitter and receiver is the classic attractive for guided wave inspection. The present work was done to develop a non-contact guided-wave tomography technique by laser ultrasonic technique in a plate-like structure. A method for Lam wave generation and detection in an aluminum plate with a pulse laser ultrasonic transmitter and a Michelson interferometer receiver has been developed. In the images obtained by laser scanning, the defect shape and area showed good agreement with the actual defect. The proposed approach can be used as a non-contact-based online inspection and monitoring technique.
Heterodyne polarimetry technology for inspection of critical dimensions
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Protopopov V.
2010-06-01
Full Text Available Heterodyne polarimetry is based on the analysis of phases and polarization states of two frequency shifted cross-polarized waves, generated by Zeeman lasers and their analogs [1]. In semiconductor industry, manufacturing of memory chips depends on the width and aspect ratio of a great number of identical parallel vertical and horizontal word and bit address lines. Such a structure may be considered as a wire grid polarizer for visible optics, and it is reasonable to expect that polarimetry techniques may be efficient for detecting tiny variations in this type of structures on masks and wafers. Currently, both imaging and non-imaging modalities are considered as complementary inspection technologies. The talk will focus on instrumentation, theory, and experimental results of two different inspection tools: scanning polarimeters for mapping variations of critical dimensions over lithography masks and semiconductor wafers, and polarization-controlled dual-channel heterodyne microscope with super-resolution capabilities.
Pulse Compression Techniques for Laser Generated Ultrasound
Anastasi, R. F.; Madaras, E. I.
1999-01-01
Laser generated ultrasound for nondestructive evaluation has an optical power density limit due to rapid high heating that causes material damage. This damage threshold limits the generated ultrasound amplitude, which impacts nondestructive evaluation inspection capability. To increase ultrasound signal levels and improve the ultrasound signal-to-noise ratio without exceeding laser power limitations, it is possible to use pulse compression techniques. The approach illustrated here uses a 150mW laser-diode modulated with a pseudo-random sequence and signal correlation. Results demonstrate the successful generation of ultrasonic bulk waves in aluminum and graphite-epoxy composite materials using a modulated low-power laser diode and illustrate ultrasound bandwidth control.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Bosch, J.; Hugger, A.; Franz, J. [GE Energy, PII Pipetronix GmbH, Stutensee (Germany); Falter, S.; Oberdoerfer, Y. [GE Inspection Technology Systems, Huerth (Germany)
2004-07-01
Pipeline inspection pigs with individual test probes are limited in their function due to the fixed arrangement of sensors on the support. In contrast, the phased-array technology enables multitasking of tests, e.g. stress and corrosion testing which formerly required two different test runs with different sensor set-ups. The angles of inclination can be adapted to the test medium, and virtual sensors can be matched in size and overlap so that, e.g., small pittings will be detected. The sensor set-up presented here enables higher test speed and improved flaw detection. The contribution describes the measuring principle, the inspection pig (UltraScan DUO), and some results of prototype measurements. [German] Pruefmolche fuer die Pipelinepruefung mit Einzelpruefkoepfen sind in ihrem Funktionsumfang aufgrund der festliegenden Anordnung der Sensoren im Sensortraeger eingeschraenkt. Die Phased-Array-Technologie gestattet die simultane Durchfuehrung verschiedener Pruefaufgaben, wie beispielsweise der Rissund der Korrosionspruefung, die vorher zwei Prueflaeufe mit verschiedenen Sensortraegern erforderten. Die Einfallswinkel koennen auf das jeweilige Medium angepasst werden, und es besteht die Moeglichkeit, virtuelle Sensoren bezueglich ihrer Groesse und der gegenseitigen Ueberlappung so anzupassen, dass beispielsweise kleine Pittings gefunden werden koennen. Die ausgefuehrte Form gestattet hoehere Pruefgeschwindigkeit und verbesserte Fehlerauffindung. In diesem Artikel werden das Messprinzip und der Inspektionsmolch (UltraScan DUO) beschrieben sowie einige Prototyp-Messergebnisse vorgestellt.
Calculation of frequency of optimal inspection in non-notice inspection game
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kumakura, Shinichi; Gotoh, Yoshiki; Kikuchi, Masahiro
2011-01-01
We consider a non-notice inspection game between an inspection party, who verifies absence of diversion of nuclear materials and misuse of nuclear facility, and a facility operator, who tries them in a nuclear facility. In the game, the payoff for each player, inspection party and facility operator, is composed of various elements (parameters) such as facility type, a type of nuclear material, number of inspection and others. Their payoffs consist of profits and costs (minus profit). Because of random nature by non-notice inspection, its deterrence effect and inspection number could have the potential to affect their payoffs. In this paper, their payoffs taking into consideration of the inspection environment above are represented as a function of inspection number. Then, the optimal number is calculated from a condition on their payoffs for number of inspection. Comparable statics analysis is performed in order to observe the change of inspection number which is equilibrium point by changing these parameters including deterrence effect, because the number derived depends on each parameter within the inspection environment. Based on the analysis results, necessary conditions to reduce the inspection number keeping inspection effect are pointed out. (author)
Automatic segmentation of lesions for the computer-assisted detection in fluorescence urology
Kage, Andreas; Legal, Wolfgang; Kelm, Peter; Simon, Jörg; Bergen, Tobias; Münzenmayer, Christian; Benz, Michaela
2012-03-01
Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers in the western world. The diagnosis in Germany is based on the visual inspection of the bladder. This inspection performed with a cystoscope is a challenging task as some kinds of abnormal tissues do not differ much in their appearance from their surrounding healthy tissue. Fluorescence Cystoscopy has the potential to increase the detection rate. A liquid marker introduced into the bladder in advance of the inspection is concentrated in areas with high metabolism. Thus these areas appear as bright "glowing". Unfortunately, the fluorescence image contains besides the glowing of the suspicious lesions no more further visual information like for example the appearance of the blood vessels. A visual judgment of the lesion as well as a precise treatment has to be done using white light illumination. Thereby, the spatial information of the lesion provided by the fluorescence image has to be guessed by the clinical expert. This leads to a time consuming procedure due to many switches between the modalities and increases the risk of mistreatment. We introduce an automatic approach, which detects and segments any suspicious lesion in the fluorescence image automatically once the image was classified as a fluorescence image. The area of the contour of the detected lesion is transferred to the corresponding white light image and provide the clinical expert the spatial information of the lesion. The advantage of this approach is, that the clinical expert gets the spatial and the visual information of the lesion together in one image. This can save time and decrease the risk of an incomplete removal of a malign lesion.
Laser cleaning of pulsed laser deposited rhodium films for fusion diagnostic mirrors
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Uccello, A.; Maffini, A.; Dellasega, D.; Passoni, M.
2013-01-01
Highlights: ► Pulsed laser deposition is exploited to produce Rh films for first mirrors. ► Pulsed laser deposition is exploited to produce tokamak-like C contaminants. ► Rh laser damage threshold has been evaluated for infrared pulses. ► Laser cleaning of C contaminated Rh films gives promising results. -- Abstract: In this paper an experimental investigation on the laser cleaning process of rhodium films, potentially candidates to be used as tokamak first mirrors (FMs), from redeposited carbon contaminants is presented. A relevant issue that lowers mirror's performance during tokamak operations is the redeposition of sputtered material from the first wall on their surface. Among all the possible techniques, laser cleaning, in which a train of laser pulses is launched to the surface that has to be treated, is a method to potentially mitigate this problem. The same laser system (Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with a fundamental wavelength of 1064-nm and 7-ns pulses) has been employed with three aims: (i) production by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) of Rh film mirrors, (ii) production by PLD of C deposits with controlled morphology, and (iii) investigation of the laser cleaning method onto C contaminated Rh samples. The evaluation of Rh films laser damage threshold, as a function of fluence and number of pulses, is discussed. Then, the C/Rh films have been cleaned by the laser beam. The exposed zones have been characterized by visual inspection and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), showing promising results
A real-time 3D scanning system for pavement distortion inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Li, Qingguang; Yao, Ming; Yao, Xun; Xu, Bugao
2010-01-01
Pavement distortions, such as rutting and shoving, are the common pavement distress problems that need to be inspected and repaired in a timely manner to ensure ride quality and traffic safety. This paper introduces a real-time, low-cost inspection system devoted to detecting these distress features using high-speed 3D transverse scanning techniques. The detection principle is the dynamic generation and characterization of the 3D pavement profile based on structured light triangulation. To improve the accuracy of the system, a multi-view coplanar scheme is employed in the calibration procedure so that more feature points can be used and distributed across the field of view of the camera. A sub-pixel line extraction method is applied for the laser stripe location, which includes filtering, edge detection and spline interpolation. The pavement transverse profile is then generated from the laser stripe curve and approximated by line segments. The second-order derivatives of the segment endpoints are used to identify the feature points of possible distortions. The system can output the real-time measurements and 3D visualization of rutting and shoving distress in a scanned pavement
Inspection of Piezoceramic Transducers Used for Structural Health Monitoring
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Inka Mueller
2017-01-01
Full Text Available The use of piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS for structural health monitoring (SHM purposes is state of the art for acousto-ultrasonic-based methods. For system reliability, detailed information about the PWAS itself is necessary. This paper gives an overview on frequent PWAS faults and presents the effects of these faults on the wave propagation, used for active acousto-ultrasonics-based SHM. The analysis of the wave field is based on velocity measurements using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV. New and established methods of PWAS inspection are explained in detail, listing advantages and disadvantages. The electro-mechanical impedance spectrum as basis for these methods is discussed for different sensor faults. This way this contribution focuses on a detailed analysis of PWAS and the need of their inspection for an increased reliability of SHM systems.
Development of Blue Laser Direct-Write Lithography System
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hao-Wen Chang
2012-01-01
Full Text Available The optical lithography system researched in this study adopted the laser direct-write lithography technology with nano-positioning stage by using retailing blue ray optical pickup head contained 405nm wavelength and 0.85 numerical aperture of focus lens as the system lighting source. The system employed a photodiode received the focusing error signal reflected by the glass substrate to identify specimen position and automatic focused control with voice coil motor. The pattern substrate was loaded on a nano-positioning stage; input pattern path automatically and collocate with inner program at the same time. This research has successfully developed a blue laser lithography process system. The single spot size can be narrowed down to 3.07 μm and the linewidth is 3.3μm, time of laser control can reach to 450 ns and the exposure pattern can be controlled by program as well.
Articulated inspection arm for ITER, a demonstration in the Tore Supra tokamak
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Cordier, J.J.; Gargiulo, L.; Grisolia, C.; Samaille, F. [Association Euratom-CEA Cadarache, 13 - Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France). Dept. de Recherches sur la Fusion Controlee; Friconneau, J.P.; Perrot, Y. [CEA Fontenay-aux-Roses, LIST Robotics and Interactive Systems Unit, 92 (France); Palmer, J.D. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik Boltzmannstr.2, Garching (Germany)
2003-07-01
The aim of this program is to demonstrate for ITER the feasibility of an in-vessel remote handling inspection using a long reach, limited payload carrier (1 to 10 kg) for penetration of the ITER chamber through the openings. This device is dedicated to close inspection of the Plasma Facing Components (PFC). An articulated demonstrator called articulated inspection arm (AIA) has been manufactured. A feasibility study of a full AIA operation in Tore Supra was performed, taking into account ITER reference requirements. A scale one demonstration of the AIA under ITER relevant condition is feasible on Tore Supra and would give significant improvement in research results for ITER remote Handling equipment. The test of the AIA demonstrator behaviour is foreseen in 2005 in real Tokamak conditions. The paper presents the full robot concept, the results of the first test campaign, the AIA new design and its integration on Tore Supra. Several potential uses of the AIA for the in vessel components inspection are being studied such as PFC visual inspection, water loop leak testing, laser ablation for wall detritiation and carbon dust and flakes removal are foreseen as utilities to be placed at the AIA head. These various systems are described in the paper.
Articulated inspection arm for ITER, a demonstration in the Tore Supra tokamak
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Cordier, J.J.; Gargiulo, L.; Grisolia, C.; Samaille, F.; Palmer, J.D.
2003-01-01
The aim of this program is to demonstrate for ITER the feasibility of an in-vessel remote handling inspection using a long reach, limited payload carrier (1 to 10 kg) for penetration of the ITER chamber through the openings. This device is dedicated to close inspection of the Plasma Facing Components (PFC). An articulated demonstrator called articulated inspection arm (AIA) has been manufactured. A feasibility study of a full AIA operation in Tore Supra was performed, taking into account ITER reference requirements. A scale one demonstration of the AIA under ITER relevant condition is feasible on Tore Supra and would give significant improvement in research results for ITER remote Handling equipment. The test of the AIA demonstrator behaviour is foreseen in 2005 in real Tokamak conditions. The paper presents the full robot concept, the results of the first test campaign, the AIA new design and its integration on Tore Supra. Several potential uses of the AIA for the in vessel components inspection are being studied such as PFC visual inspection, water loop leak testing, laser ablation for wall detritiation and carbon dust and flakes removal are foreseen as utilities to be placed at the AIA head. These various systems are described in the paper
Plane development of lateral surfaces for inspection systems
Francini, F.; Fontani, D.; Jafrancesco, D.; Mercatelli, L.; Sansoni, P.
2006-08-01
The problem of developing the lateral surfaces of a 3D object can arise in item inspection using automated imaging systems. In an industrial environment, these control systems typically work at high rate and they have to assure a reliable inspection of the single item. For compactness requirements it is not convenient to utilise three or four CCD cameras to control all the lateral surfaces of an object. Moreover it is impossible to mount optical components near the object if it is placed on a conveyor belt. The paper presents a system that integrates on a single CCD picture the images of both the frontal surface and the lateral surface of an object. It consists of a freeform lens mounted in front of a CCD camera with a commercial lens. The aim is to have a good magnification of the lateral surface, maintaining a low aberration level for exploiting the pictures in an image processing software. The freeform lens, made in plastics, redirects the light coming from the object to the camera lens. The final result is to obtain on the CCD: - the frontal and lateral surface images, with a selected magnification (even with two different values for the two images); - a gap between these two images, so an automatic method to analyse the images can be easily applied. A simple method to design the freeform lens is illustrated. The procedure also allows to obtain the imaging system modifying a current inspection system reducing the cost.
Pathology Residents Comprise Inspection Team for a CAP Self-Inspection
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Stacy G. Beal MD
2017-03-01
Full Text Available We report our experience at the University of Florida in which residents and fellows served as the inspection team for a College of American Pathologists (CAP self-inspection. We aimed to determine whether the CAP self-inspection could serve as a learning opportunity for pathology residents and fellows. To prepare for the inspection, we provided a series of 4 lunchtime seminars covering numerous laboratory management topics relating to inspections and laboratory quality. Preparation for the inspection began approximately 4 months prior to the date of the inspection. The intent was to simulate a CAP peer inspection, with the exception that the date was announced. The associate residency program director served as the team leader. All residents and fellows completed inspector training provided by CAP, and the team leader completed the team leader training. A 20 question pre- and posttest was administered; additionally, an anonymous survey was given after the inspection. The residents’ and fellows’ posttest scores were an average of 15% higher than on the pretest ( P < .01. The surveys as well as subjective comments were overwhelmingly positive. In conclusion, the resident’s and fellow’s experience as an inspector during a CAP self-inspection was a useful tool to learn accreditation and laboratory management.
Behavioral Model of High Performance Camera for NIF Optics Inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hackel, B M
2007-01-01
The purpose of this project was to develop software that will model the behavior of the high performance Spectral Instruments 1000 series Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) camera located in the Final Optics Damage Inspection (FODI) system on the National Ignition Facility. NIF's target chamber will be mounted with 48 Final Optics Assemblies (FOAs) to convert the laser light from infrared to ultraviolet and focus it precisely on the target. Following a NIF shot, the optical components of each FOA must be carefully inspected for damage by the FODI to ensure proper laser performance during subsequent experiments. Rapid image capture and complex image processing (to locate damage sites) will reduce shot turnaround time; thus increasing the total number of experiments NIF can conduct during its 30 year lifetime. Development of these rapid processes necessitates extensive offline software automation -- especially after the device has been deployed in the facility. Without access to the unique real device or an exact behavioral model, offline software testing is difficult. Furthermore, a software-based behavioral model allows for many instances to be running concurrently; this allows multiple developers to test their software at the same time. Thus it is beneficial to construct separate software that will exactly mimic the behavior and response of the real SI-1000 camera
Application of laser spot cutting on spring contact probe for semiconductor package inspection
Lee, Dongkyoung; Cho, Jungdon; Kim, Chan Ho; Lee, Seung Hwan
2017-12-01
A packaged semiconductor has to be electrically tested to make sure they are free of any manufacturing defects. The test interface, typically employed between a Printed Circuit Board and the semiconductor devices, consists of densely populated Spring Contact Probe (SCP). A standard SCP typically consists of a plunger, a barrel, and an internal spring. Among these components, plungers are manufactured by a stamping process. After stamping, plunger connecting arms need to be cut into pieces. Currently, mechanical cutting has been used. However, it may damage to the body of plungers due to the mechanical force engaged at the cutting point. Therefore, laser spot cutting is considered to solve this problem. The plunger arm is in the shape of a rectangular beam, 50 μm (H) × 90 μm (W). The plunger material used for this research is gold coated beryllium copper. Laser parameters, such as power and elapsed time, have been selected to study laser spot cutting. Laser material interaction characteristics such as a crater size, material removal zone, ablation depth, ablation threshold, and full penetration are observed. Furthermore, a carefully chosen laser parameter (Etotal = 1000mJ) to test feasibility of laser spot cutting are applied. The result show that laser spot cutting can be applied to cut SCP.
Risk evaluation system for operational events and inspection findings
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lopez G, A.; Godinez S, V.; Lopez M, R.
2010-10-01
The Mexican Nuclear Regulatory Commission has developed an adaptation of the US NRC Significance Determination Process (SDP) to evaluate the risk significance of operational events and inspection findings in Laguna Verde nuclear power plant. The Mexican Nuclear Regulatory Commission developed a plant specific flow chart for preliminary screening instead of the open questionnaire used by the US NRC-SDP, with the aim to improve the accuracy of the screening process. Also, the work sheets and support information tables required by the SDP were built up in an Excel application which allows to perform the risk evaluation in an automatic way, focusing the regulator staff efforts in the risk significance analysis instead of the risk calculation tasks. In order to construct this tool a simplified PRA model was developed and validated with the individual plant examination model. This paper shows the Mexican Nuclear Regulatory Commission process and some risk events evaluations performed using the Risk Evaluation System for Operational Events and Inspection Findings (SERHE, by its acronyms in Spanish). (Author)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Suga, Yasuo
1995-01-01
X-ray radiography has the excellent ability for operation and recording, accordingly, it has been used widely in industrial fields, but for deciding the presence of defects and their kinds and shapes from X-ray films, skilled workers are required. Recently because of the shortage of skilled workers and the increase of inspection efficiency, the necessity of its automation increased. The images of the films of the X-ray inspection of welded part are photographed with a CCD camera, and these are taken in a personal computer as the image data, then image processing is applied to them, and defect images are extracted automatically. Further, the technique of displaying the images so that inspectors can recognize them easily is devised. These procedures were examined. The constitution of the system the way of thinking in developing the system, the acquiring of high contrast images, the emphasis of defect images, the elimination of noise the treatment of emphasizing nuclear defect images, the elimination of background and the extraction of defect images, the results of the processing and image display are reported. The order of processes, the kind of a filter used and so on can be changed according to the purpose, the kind of welding and the image quality of films. (K.I.)
Retrieval Algorithms for Road Surface Modelling Using Laser-Based Mobile Mapping
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Antero Kukko
2008-09-01
Full Text Available Automated processing of the data provided by a laser-based mobile mapping system will be a necessity due to the huge amount of data produced. In the future, vehiclebased laser scanning, here called mobile mapping, should see considerable use for road environment modelling. Since the geometry of the scanning and point density is different from airborne laser scanning, new algorithms are needed for information extraction. In this paper, we propose automatic methods for classifying the road marking and kerbstone points and modelling the road surface as a triangulated irregular network. On the basis of experimental tests, the mean classification accuracies obtained using automatic method for lines, zebra crossings and kerbstones were 80.6%, 92.3% and 79.7%, respectively.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ishii, Hirotake; Yang, Shoufeng; Yan, Weida; Shimoda, Hiroshi; Izumi, Masanori
2009-01-01
In this study, an automatic registration system was developed that can measure 3 dimensional position and orientation of multi-range fiducials automatically using a camera, laser range finder and motion bases connected to a computer. Result of the experimental evaluation shows that the measurement takes about 50 seconds per marker and RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) of the position and orientation measurement are 3.5 mm and 1.2 degrees respectively. (author)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Satittada, Gannaga
1984-01-01
Ultrasonic inspection is one of the most widely used methods for nondestructive inspection. The beam of high-frequency sound wave, ultrasonic wave, is introduced into the material. It travels through the material with some attendant loss of energy and can be reflected at interfaces. The reflected beam is detected and analyzed. Ultrasonic inspection is used to detect flaws in metal parts as well as in welded, brazed and bonded joints during research work and developing production and service. It is also used to detect and locate porosity, pipe, and flakes. In addition, it can be used for the measurement of metal thickness. Ultrasonic inspection is therefore used for quality control and material inspection in all major industries
SmartInspect: Smart Contract Inspection Technical Report
Bragagnolo , Santiago; Rocha , Henrique ,; Denker , Marcus; Ducasse , Stéphane
2017-01-01
Smart contracts are embedded procedures stored with the data they act upon. Debugging deployed Smart Contracts is a difficult task since once deployed, the code cannot be reexecuted and inspecting a simple attribute is not easily possible because data is encoded. In this technical report, we present SmartInspect to address the lack of inspectability of a deployed contract. Our solution analyses the contract state by using decompilation techniques and a mirror-based architecture to represent t...
AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNER POINT CLOUDS USING NATURAL PLANAR SURFACES
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
P. W. Theiler
2012-07-01
Full Text Available Terrestrial laser scanners have become a standard piece of surveying equipment, used in diverse fields like geomatics, manufacturing and medicine. However, the processing of today's large point clouds is time-consuming, cumbersome and not automated enough. A basic step of post-processing is the registration of scans from different viewpoints. At present this is still done using artificial targets or tie points, mostly by manual clicking. The aim of this registration step is a coarse alignment, which can then be improved with the existing algorithm for fine registration. The focus of this paper is to provide such a coarse registration in a fully automatic fashion, and without placing any target objects in the scene. The basic idea is to use virtual tie points generated by intersecting planar surfaces in the scene. Such planes are detected in the data with RANSAC and optimally fitted using least squares estimation. Due to the huge amount of recorded points, planes can be determined very accurately, resulting in well-defined tie points. Given two sets of potential tie points recovered in two different scans, registration is performed by searching for the assignment which preserves the geometric configuration of the largest possible subset of all tie points. Since exhaustive search over all possible assignments is intractable even for moderate numbers of points, the search is guided by matching individual pairs of tie points with the help of a novel descriptor based on the properties of a point's parent planes. Experiments show that the proposed method is able to successfully coarse register TLS point clouds without the need for artificial targets.
Automatic Registration of Terrestrial Laser Scanner Point Clouds Using Natural Planar Surfaces
Theiler, P. W.; Schindler, K.
2012-07-01
Terrestrial laser scanners have become a standard piece of surveying equipment, used in diverse fields like geomatics, manufacturing and medicine. However, the processing of today's large point clouds is time-consuming, cumbersome and not automated enough. A basic step of post-processing is the registration of scans from different viewpoints. At present this is still done using artificial targets or tie points, mostly by manual clicking. The aim of this registration step is a coarse alignment, which can then be improved with the existing algorithm for fine registration. The focus of this paper is to provide such a coarse registration in a fully automatic fashion, and without placing any target objects in the scene. The basic idea is to use virtual tie points generated by intersecting planar surfaces in the scene. Such planes are detected in the data with RANSAC and optimally fitted using least squares estimation. Due to the huge amount of recorded points, planes can be determined very accurately, resulting in well-defined tie points. Given two sets of potential tie points recovered in two different scans, registration is performed by searching for the assignment which preserves the geometric configuration of the largest possible subset of all tie points. Since exhaustive search over all possible assignments is intractable even for moderate numbers of points, the search is guided by matching individual pairs of tie points with the help of a novel descriptor based on the properties of a point's parent planes. Experiments show that the proposed method is able to successfully coarse register TLS point clouds without the need for artificial targets.
Automated phased array ultrasonic inspection system for rail wheel sets
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Grosser, Paul; Weiland, M.G.
2013-01-01
This paper covers the design, system automation, calibration and validation of an automated ultrasonic system for the inspection of new and in service wheel set assemblies from diesel-electric locomotives and gondola cars. This system uses Phased Array (PA) transducers for flaw detection and Electro-Magnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMAT) for the measurement of residual stress. The system collects, analyses, evaluates and categorizes the wheel sets automatically. This data is archived for future comparison and trending. It is also available for export to a portal lathe for increased efficiency and accuracy of machining, therefore allowing prolonged wheel life.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Xu, Fengyu; Wang, Xingsong; Wu, Hongtao
2012-01-01
A nondestructive testing technique based on magnetic flux leakage is presented to inspect automatically the stay cables with large diameters of a cable-stayed bridge. Using the proposed inspection method, an online nondestructive testing (NDT) modular sensor is developed. The wreath-like sensor is composed of several sensor units that embrace the cable at equal angles. Each sensor unit consists of two permanent magnets and a hall sensor to detect the magnetic flux density. The modular sensor can be installed conveniently on cables with various diameters by increasing the number of sensor units and adjusting the relative distances between adjacent sensor units. Results of the experiments performed on a man-made cable with faults prove that the proposed sensor can inspect the status signals of the inner wires of the cables. To filter the interfering signals, three processing algorithms are discussed, including the moving average method, improved detrending algorithm, and signal processing based on a digital filter. Results show that the developed NDT sensor carried by a cable inspection robot can move along the cable and monitor the state of the stay cables
RPII Inspection and Licensing Activities and Annual Inspection Programme for 2011
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
2010-07-01
The objective of this report is to provide an overview of inspection activities of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, to examine the evolution in licensee numbers and to outline the rationale in developing annual inspection programmes. All inspection activities are now carried out within the framework of a quality management system including: inspection planning, the training of inspectors, the conduct of inspections as well as inspection follow up and review. The report also provides an overview of the main features of the quality system
RPII Inspection and Licensing Activities and Annual Inspection Programme for 2013
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
2013-04-01
The objective of this report is to provide an overview of inspection activities of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland RPII, to examine the evolution in licensee numbers and to outline the rationale in developing annual inspection programmes. All inspection activities are now carried out within the framework of a quality management system including inspection planning, the training of inspectors, the conduct of inspections as well as post inspection follow up and review. This report also provides an overview of the main features of the quality system
VEDS-Automated system for inspection of vehicles and containers for explosives and other threats
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gozani, T.; Liu, F.; Sivakumar, M.
2004-01-01
Many parts of national infrastructures around the world are very vulnerable to terrorist threats in the form of large vehicle bombs. The larger bomb, the larger is the damage and its extent. The number of containers and vehicles crossing land or sea ports of entry is huge. Tough the probability is low, any vehicle may contain a threat. Any system addressing these enormous security tasks should obviously be based on excellent human intelligence to focus the attention on a much smaller number of high-risk containers and vehicles. These containers must then be subjected to a thorough and reliable inspection for the threats.Viable security system must incorporate a credible and effective inspection to achieve its purposes. It should have high performance and be operationally acceptable. This means the system must possess high detection capabilities, low false positive rate, fast response and provide automatic decision eliminating the need for human interpretation. Ancore has developed a range of new inspection devices, which are highly suitable for the above tasks. All the systems are automatic, material specific, high performance for a wide range and type of threats. Some of them are also highly modular, and compact. Some of the systems are fixed, other are relocatable, or fully mobile. The presentation will discuss Ancore's VEDS (Vehicle Explosive Detection System) which detects bulk explosives (expandable also to radiological and nuclear threats)) in marine containers, trucks and cars. The compact and rugged nature of the VEDS sensor makes it suitable for many forms of conveyance: mobile (van mounted), portal, forklift mounted, or mounted on container unloading rig. The physics principles of the system and some recent applications and results will be presented
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Takahashi, Masaki; Omote, Tatsuyuki; Yoneya, Yutaka; Tanaka, Keiji; Waki, Tetsuro; Yoshida, Tomiji; Kido, Tsuyoshi.
1993-01-01
An inspection vehicle comprises a small-sized battery directly connected with a power motor or a direct power source from trolly lines and a switching circuit operated by external signals. The switch judges advance or retreat by two kinds of signals and the inspection vehicle is recovered by self-running. In order to recover the abnormally stopped inspection vehicle to the targeted place, the inspection vehicle is made in a free-running state by using a clutch mechanism and is pushed by an other vehicle. (T.M.)
Pre-service inspection and in-service inspection in Japan
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Uebayashi, T.; Miyake, Y.
1985-01-01
To ensure the safety of nuclear power plant, pre-service inspection/in-service inspection (PSI/ISI) has an important role, and informations obtained from various inspections during plant shut-down period are contributing to establish effective preventive maintenance activities for plant facilities. It might be said that the high level of availability of Japanese light-water nuclear power plants in these two or three years has been achieved by those efforts. In case of Japan, inspections to be carried out during scheduled plant shut-down period are not limited to code requirements but include many other inspections which are mostly reflected from troubles experienced in both domestic and overseas plants. Usually, those additional inspections are performed by Ministry of Trade and Industries' (MITI's) regulator and/or tentative requirement and considered as ISI in broad meaning. To achieve high availability of plant, it is essential to avoid unscheduled shut-down and to shorten inspection period. The developments of new technology to perform effective ISI for operating plants are continued, but on the other hand it is also very important to pay a great consideration to inspectability of the plants at the stage of plant engineering. With the leadership of MITI, improvement and standardization of light-water nuclear power plant has been proceeded and newly constructed plants have great advantage from the point of view on ISI
Innovative automation solutions applied to nuclear fuel production and inspection processes
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Vas, Ananth
2012-01-01
The nuclear industry in India is slated for fast paced growth in the coming years, with a great focus on increasing the capacity for producing, inspecting and finally reprocessing of nuclear fuel. Modern techniques of industrial automation such as robotics, machine vision and laser based systems have been deployed extensively to improve the productivity and output of existing and future installations, particularly for the fuel handling stages mentioned
Development of an ultrasonic weld inspection system based on image processing and neural networks
Roca Barceló, Fernando; Jaén del Hierro, Pedro; Ribes Llario, Fran; Real Herráiz, Julia
2018-04-01
Several types of discontinuities and defects may be present on a weld, thus leading to a considerable reduction of its resistance. Therefore, ensuring a high welding quality and reliability has become a matter of key importance for many construction and industrial activities. Among the non-destructive weld testing and inspection techniques, the time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD) arises as a very safe (no ionising radiation), precise, reliable and versatile practice. However, this technique presents a relevant drawback, associated to the appearance of speckle noise that should be addressed. In this regard, this paper presents a new, intelligent and automatic method for weld inspection and analysis, based on TOFD, image processing and neural networks. The developed system is capable of detecting weld defects and imperfections with accuracy, and classify them into different categories.
Simulation of surface cracks measurement in first walls by laser spot array thermography
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Pei, Cuixiang; Qiu, Jinxin; Liu, Haocheng; Chen, Zhenmao, E-mail: chenzm@mail.xjtu.edu.cn
2016-11-01
The inspection of surface cracks in first walls (FW) is very important to ensure the safe operation of the fusion reactors. In this paper, a new laser excited thermography technique with using laser spot array source is proposed for the surface cracks imaging and evaluation in the FW with an intuitive and non-contact measurement method. Instead of imaging a crack by scanning a single laser spot and superimposing the local discontinuity images with the present laser excited thermography methods, it can inspect a relatively large area at one measurement. It does not only simplify the measurement system and data processing procedure, but also provide a faster measurement for FW. In order to investigate the feasibility of this method, a numerical code based on finite element method (FEM) is developed to simulate the heat flow and the effect of the crack geometry on the thermal wave fields. An imaging method based on the gradient of the thermal images is proposed for crack measurement with the laser spot array thermography method.
Laser cleaning of varnishes and contaminants on brass
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Mateo, M.P.; Ctvrtnickova, T. [Universidad de A Coruna, Dpto. Ingenieria Industrial II, C/ Mendizabal s/n, 15403 Ferrol (Spain); Fernandez, E.; Ramos, J.A. [Instituto Tecnologico de Optica Color e Imagen, AIDO, Dpto. Laser, Valencia (Spain); Yanez, A. [Universidad de A Coruna, Dpto. Ingenieria Industrial II, C/ Mendizabal s/n, 15403 Ferrol (Spain); Nicolas, G. [Universidad de A Coruna, Dpto. Ingenieria Industrial II, C/ Mendizabal s/n, 15403 Ferrol (Spain)], E-mail: gines@cdf.udc.es
2009-03-01
The capability of laser ablation to perform controlled cleaning of varnishes containing contaminants and paints used by restorers in artistic objects from brass samples while keeping unaltered the finish structure is demonstrated in this work. Adequate laser energy per pulse and number of laser shots required to perform a suitable cleaning by laser ablation have been optimized. The inspection of the samples before and after the cleaning process by optical microscopy and by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technique demonstrated that the finish structure of the surface was intact while the coatings were completely eliminated. Furthermore, a laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIBS)-based detection system was applied during the irradiation process for the analysis of the material removal and also for its monitoring.
Laser cleaning of varnishes and contaminants on brass
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Mateo, M.P.; Ctvrtnickova, T.; Fernandez, E.; Ramos, J.A.; Yanez, A.; Nicolas, G.
2009-01-01
The capability of laser ablation to perform controlled cleaning of varnishes containing contaminants and paints used by restorers in artistic objects from brass samples while keeping unaltered the finish structure is demonstrated in this work. Adequate laser energy per pulse and number of laser shots required to perform a suitable cleaning by laser ablation have been optimized. The inspection of the samples before and after the cleaning process by optical microscopy and by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technique demonstrated that the finish structure of the surface was intact while the coatings were completely eliminated. Furthermore, a laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIBS)-based detection system was applied during the irradiation process for the analysis of the material removal and also for its monitoring
Applications Of Laser Processing For Automotive Manufacturing In Japan
Ito, Masashi; Ueda, Katsuhiko; Takagi, Soya
1986-11-01
Recently in Japan, laser processing is increasingly being employed for production, so that laser cutting, laser welding and other laser material processing have begun to be used in various industries. As a result, the number of lasers sold has been increasing year by year in Japan. In the Japanese automotive industry, a number applications have been introduced in laboratories and production lines. In this paper, several current instances of such laser applications will be introduced. In the case of welding, studies have been conducted on applying laser welding to automatic transmission components, in place of electron beam welding. Another example of application, the combination of lasers and robots to form highly flexible manufacturing systems, has been adopted for trimming steel panel and plastic components.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Miwa, Yasuhiro; Sato, Syuuichi; Kojima, Toshio; Owaki, Katsura; Hirose, Naoya
2002-01-01
As components in nuclear power plant have been periodically carried out their inspection and repair to keep their integrity, on radioactive liquid wastes storage facility, because of difficulty on their inspection by human beings, some are remained without inspection, and even when capable of inspection, conversion from human works to remote operations is desired from a viewpoint of their operation efficiency upgrading. For response to these needs, some developments on a technology capable of carrying out inspection of their inside at underwater environment and repairing welding with YAG laser by means of remote operation, have been performed. Remote underwater inspection and repair technology is a combination technology of already applied underwater mobile technique (underwater inspection robot) with underwater YAG laser welding technique which is recently at actual using level. Therefore, this technology is composed of an inspection robot and a repair welding robot. And, testing results using the underwater inspection robot and welding test results using the underwater repair welding robot, were enough preferable to obtain forecasting applicable to actual apparatuses. This technology is especially effective for inspection and repair of inside of nuclear fuel cycle apparatuses and relatively high dose apparatuses, and can be thought to be applicable also to large capacity tanks, tanks dealing with harmful matters, underwater structures, and so on, in general industries. (G.K.)
Inspection and repairing method and device for inside of nuclear reactor
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ito, Shin; Yuguchi, Yasuhiro; Sato, Katsuhiko
1996-01-01
A swimming robot handling device is disposed on a floor of a reactor pit floor or a reactor floor. A swimming robot is connected to a winding device of a composite cable incorporating optical fibers. The swimming robot comprises a robot propulsion device for propelling the robot itself, a laser beam irradiating optical device for irradiating pulsative laser beams introduced by an optical fiber and an antenna mechanism having ultrasonic probe in an antenna-like shape. The swimming robot is lowered in a reactor filled with water and caused to swim to a portion to be welded, and pulsative laser beams are irradiated to the portion to be welded in a state where the antenna mechanism is brought into contact with the portion to be welded to improve the state of stresses on the surface. Further, the ultrasonic oscillations generated upon irradiation of the laser beams are measured using the ultrasonic probe to perform physical inspection. The surface of the portion to be welded can be modified or repaired stably and efficiently by remote control. (N.H.)
Development of the automatic measuring system to survey the surface contamination on equipments
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ishizuka, Akira; Matsumura, Hidekatsu; Nawa, Takao; Yamaguchi, Seiji; Yamada, Tadashi.
1980-01-01
The inspection of surface contamination carried out when things are taken out of the control areas in nuclear power stations requires considerable labor and time because it is carried out manually. In order to make the inspection of surface contamination more efficiently and to standardize it, the development of an automatic inspection apparatus was carried out. This apparatus inspects the surface contamination due to radio isotopes which do not emit α-ray, and the objects to be measured are the large things with definite forms, such as boards and pipes for scaffolding. The method of measuring β-ray with a gas flow counter was adopted for the apparatus in view of the good detection sensitivity, relatively simple shielding against background, and easy conversion to surface contamination density. The measuring system was composed of the gas flow counters and a rate meter. The outline of the apparatus made for trial is explained. As the result of the performance test, the lowest detection sensitivity was 1.29 x 10 -5 μCi/cm 2 at the moving speed of an object of 1 cm/sec. The detection sensitivity is improved by the flattening of the sensitivity distribution. The evaluation of the error, the reduction of measuring time and the prevention of contamination were also made. (Kako, I.)
Remote automatic control scheme for plasma arc cutting of contaminated waste
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Dudar, A.M.; Ward, C.R.; Kriikku, E.M.
1993-01-01
The Robotics Development Group at the Savannah River Technology Center has developed and implemented a scheme to perform automatic cutting of metallic contaminated waste. The scheme employs a plasma arc cutter in conjunction with a laser ranging sensor attached to a robotic manipulator called the Telerobot. A software algorithm using proportional control is then used to perturb the robot's trajectory in such a way as to regulate the plasma arc standoff and the robot's speed in order to achieve automatic plasma arc cuts. The scheme has been successfully tested on simulated waste materials and the results have been very favorable. This report details the development and testing of the scheme
Detection of a Surface-Breaking Crack by Using the Surface Wave of a Laser Ultrasound
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Park, Seung-Kyu; Baik, Sung-Hoon; Jung, Hyun-Kyu; Joo, Young-Sang; Cha, Hyung-Ki; Kang, Young-June
2006-01-01
A laser ultrasonic system is a non-contact inspection device with a high spatial resolution and a wide-band spectrum. Also it provides absolute measurements of the moving distance and can be applied to the hard-to access locations with curved or rough surfaces like a nuclear power plant. Several laser ultrasonic techniques are applied for the detection of micro cracks in a nuclear power plant. Also, laser ultrasonic techniques are used to measure the grain size of materials and to detect cracks in railroads and aircrafts. Though the laser ultrasonic inspection system is widely applicable, it is comparatively expensive and it provides a low signal-to-noise ratio when compared to the conventional piezoelectric transducers. Many studies have been carried out to improve the system performance. One of the widely used measurement devices of a ultrasound is the Confocal Fabry-Perot Interferometer(CFPI) with a dynamic stabilizer. The dynamic stabilizer improves the stability of the CFPI by adaptively maintaining the optimum working status at the measuring time of the CFPI. In this paper, we have investigated the detection methods of the depth of a surface-breaking crack by using the surface wave of a laser ultrasound. We have fabricated a laser ultrasonic inspection system on an optical table by using a pulse laser, a CFPI with a dynamic stabilizer and a computer. The computer acquires the laser ultrasound by using a high speed A/D converter with a sampling rate of 1000 MHz. The dynamic stabilizer stabilizes the CFPI by adaptively maintaining it at an optimum status when the laser ultrasound is generated. The computer processes the ultrasonic signal in real time to extract the depth information of a surface-breaking crack. We extracted the depth information from the peak-to-valley values in the time domain and also from the center frequencies of the spectrum in the frequency domain
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S. Oh
2012-09-01
Full Text Available Recent development of laser scanning device increased the capability of representing rock outcrop in a very high resolution. Accurate 3D point cloud model with rock joint information can help geologist to estimate stability of rock slope on-site or off-site. An automatic plane extraction method was developed by computing normal directions and grouping them in similar direction. Point normal was calculated by moving least squares (MLS method considering every point within a given distance to minimize error to the fitting plane. Normal directions were classified into a number of dominating clusters by fuzzy K-means clustering. Region growing approach was exploited to discriminate joints in a point cloud. Overall procedure was applied to point cloud with about 120,000 points, and successfully extracted joints with joint information. The extraction procedure was implemented to minimize number of input parameters and to construct plane information into the existing point cloud for less redundancy and high usability of the point cloud itself.
Automatic Stem Mapping by Merging Several Terrestrial Laser Scans at the Feature and Decision Levels
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Juha Hyyppä
2013-01-01
Full Text Available Detailed up-to-date ground reference data have become increasingly important in quantitative forest inventories. Field reference data are conventionally collected at the sample plot level by means of manual measurements, which are both labor-intensive and time-consuming. In addition, the number of attributes collected from the tree stem is limited. More recently, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS, using both single-scan and multi-scan techniques, has proven to be a promising solution for efficient stem mapping at the plot level. In the single-scan method, the laser scanner is placed at the center of the plot, creating only one scan, and all trees are mapped from the single-scan point cloud. Consequently, the occlusion of stems increases as the range of the scanner increases, depending on the forest’s attributes. In the conventional multi-scan method, several scans are made simultaneously inside and outside of the plot to collect point clouds representing all trees within the plot, and these scans are accurately co-registered by using artificial reference targets manually placed throughout the plot. The additional difficulty of applying the multi-scan method is due to the point-cloud registration of several scans not being fully automated yet. This paper proposes a multi-single-scan (MSS method to map the sample plot. The method does not require artificial reference targets placed on the plot or point-level registration. The MSS method is based on the fully automated processing of each scan independently and on the merging of the stem positions automatically detected from multiple scans to accurately map the sample plot. The proposed MSS method was tested on five dense forest plots. The results show that the MSS method significantly improves the stem-detection accuracy compared with the single-scan approach and achieves a mapping accuracy similar to that achieved with the multi-scan method, without the need for the point-level registration.
Automatic Registration of Vehicle-borne Mobile Mapping Laser Point Cloud and Sequent Panoramas
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
CHEN Chi
2018-02-01
Full Text Available An automatic registration method of mobile mapping system laser point cloud and sequence panoramic image is proposed in this paper.Firstly,hierarchical object extraction method is applied on LiDAR data to extract the building façade and outline polygons are generated to construct the skyline vectors.A virtual imaging method is proposed to solve the distortion on panoramas and corners on skylines are further detected on the virtual images combining segmentation and corner detection results.Secondly,the detected skyline vectors are taken as the registration primitives.Registration graphs are built according to the extracted skyline vector and further matched under graph edit distance minimization criteria.The matched conjugate primitives are utilized to solve the 2D-3D rough registration model to obtain the initial transformation between the sequence panoramic image coordinate system and the LiDAR point cloud coordinate system.Finally,to reduce the impact of registration primitives extraction and matching error on the registration results,the optimal transformation between the multi view stereo matching dens point cloud generated from the virtual imaging of the sequent panoramas and the LiDAR point cloud are solved by a 3D-3D ICP registration algorithm variant,thus,refine the exterior orientation parameters of panoramas indirectly.Experiments are undertaken to validate the proposed method and the results show that 1.5 pixel level registration results are achieved on the experiment dataset.The registration results can be applied to point cloud and panoramas fusion applications such as true color point cloud generation.
Laser surveillance system for spent fuel
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fiarman, S.; Zucker, M.S.; Bieber, A.M. Jr.
1980-01-01
A laser surveillance system installed at spent fuel storage pools (SFSP's) will provide the safeguard inspector with specific knowledge of spent fuel movement that cannot be obtained with current surveillance systems. The laser system will allow for the division of the pool's spent fuel inventory into two populations - those assemblies which have been moved and those which haven't - which is essential for maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the inspection effort. We have designed, constructed, and tested a full size laser system operating in air and have used an array of 6 zircaloy BWR tubes to simulate an assembly. The reflective signal from the zircaloy rods is a strong function of position of the assembly, but in all cases is easily discernable from the reference scan of the background with no assembly. A design for a SFSP laser surveillance system incorporating laser ranging is discussed. 10 figures
Optical Measuring Technologies for Industrial and Scientific Applications
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chugui, Yu V; Plotnikov, S V; Potashnikov, A K; Verkhogliad, A G
2006-01-01
The novel results of the R and D activity of TDI SIE SB RAS in the field of the optical measuring technologies, as well as laser technologies for solving safety problems are presented. For permanent noncontact bearing position inspection of oil-drilling platforms on Sakhalin coast (Russia) we have developed optical-electronic method and system SAKHALIN with cumulative traveled distance (3 km) measurement error less than 0.03%. To measure the rocks stress and to prevent the mountain impact, as well as for basic investigations, a set of optical-electronic deformers and systems was developed and produced. Multifunctional laser technological system LSP-2000 equipped by two Nd-YAG lasers was developed for cutting, welding and surface micro profiling with ablation process (working range of 3 x 2 x 0.6 m 3 , positioning error less than 10 mkm). Safety of Russian nuclear reactors takes 100% noncontact 3D dimensional inspection of all parts of fuel assemblies, including grid spacers. Results of development and testing the specialized high productive laser measuring machine, based on structured illumination, for 3D inspection of grid spacers with micron resolution are presented. Ensuring the safety of running trains is the actual task for railways. Using high-speed laser noncontact method on the base of triangulation position sensors, TDI SIE has developed and produced automatic laser diagnostic system COMPLEX for inspection of geometric parameters of wheel pairs (train speed up to 60 km/hr.), which is used successfully on Russian railways. Experimental results on measuring and laser technological systems testing are presented
Laser surveillance system for spent fuel
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fiarman, S.; Zucker, M.S.; Bieber, A.M. Jr.
1980-01-01
A laser surveillance system installed at spent fuel storage pools will provide the safeguard inspector with specific knowledge of spent fuel movement that cannot be obtained with current surveillance systems. The laser system will allow for the division of the pool's spent fuel inventory into two populations - those assemblies which have been moved and those which haven't - which is essential for maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the inspection effort. We have designed, constructed, and tested a laser system and have used it with a simulated BWR assembly. The reflected signal from the zircaloy rods depends on the position of the assembly, but in all cases is easily discernable from the reference scan of background with no assembly
Smart Infrared Inspection System Field Operational Test Final Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Siekmann, Adam [ORNL; Capps, Gary J [ORNL; Franzese, Oscar [ORNL; Lascurain, Mary Beth [ORNL
2011-06-01
The Smart InfraRed Inspection System (SIRIS) is a tool designed to assist inspectors in determining which vehicles passing through the SIRIS system are in need of further inspection by measuring the thermal data from the wheel components. As a vehicle enters the system, infrared cameras on the road measure temperatures of the brakes, tires, and wheel bearings on both wheel ends of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in motion. This thermal data is then presented to enforcement personal inside of the inspection station on a user friendly interface. Vehicles that are suspected to have a violation are automatically alerted to the enforcement staff. The main goal of the SIRIS field operational test (FOT) was to collect data to evaluate the performance of the prototype system and determine the viability of such a system being used for commercial motor vehicle enforcement. From March 2010 to September 2010, ORNL facilitated the SIRIS FOT at the Greene County Inspection Station (IS) in Greeneville, Tennessee. During the course of the FOT, 413 CMVs were given a North American Standard (NAS) Level-1 inspection. Of those 413 CMVs, 384 were subjected to a SIRIS screening. A total of 36 (9.38%) of the vehicles were flagged by SIRIS as having one or more thermal issues; with brakes issues making up 33 (91.67%) of those. Of the 36 vehicles flagged as having thermal issues, 31 (86.11%) were found to have a violation and 30 (83.33%) of those vehicles were placed out-of-service (OOS). Overall the enforcement personnel who have used SIRIS for screening purposes have had positive feedback on the potential of SIRIS. With improvements in detection algorithms and stability, the system will be beneficial to the CMV enforcement community and increase overall trooper productivity by accurately identifying a higher percentage of CMVs to be placed OOS with minimal error. No future evaluation of SIRIS has been deemed necessary and specifications for a production system will soon be drafted.
Opto-mechanical devices for the Antares automatic beam alignment system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Swann, T.; Combs, C.; Witt, J.
1981-01-01
Antares is a 24-beam CO 2 laser system for controlled fusion research, under construction at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Rapid automatic alignment of this system is required prior to each experimental shot. Unique opto-mechanical alignment devices, which have been developed specifically for this automatic alignment system, are discussed. A variable focus alignment telescope views point light sources. A beam expander/spatial filter processes both a visible Krypton Ion and a 10.6 μm CO 2 alignment laser. The periscope/carousel device provides the means by which the alignment telescope can sequentially view each of twelve optical trains in each power amplifier. The polyhedron alignment device projects a point-light source for both centering and pointing alignment at the polyhedron mirror. The rotating wedge alignment device provides a sequencing point-light source and also compensates for dispersion between visible and 10.6 μm radiation. The back reflector flip in remotely positions point-light sources at the back reflector mirrors. A light source box illuminates optic fibers with high intensity white light which is distributed to the various point-light sources in the system
Dore, C.; Murphy, M.
2013-02-01
This paper outlines a new approach for generating digital heritage models from laser scan or photogrammetric data using Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM). HBIM is a plug-in for Building Information Modelling (BIM) software that uses parametric library objects and procedural modelling techniques to automate the modelling stage. The HBIM process involves a reverse engineering solution whereby parametric interactive objects representing architectural elements are mapped onto laser scan or photogrammetric survey data. A library of parametric architectural objects has been designed from historic manuscripts and architectural pattern books. These parametric objects were built using an embedded programming language within the ArchiCAD BIM software called Geometric Description Language (GDL). Procedural modelling techniques have been implemented with the same language to create a parametric building façade which automatically combines library objects based on architectural rules and proportions. Different configurations of the façade are controlled by user parameter adjustment. The automatically positioned elements of the façade can be subsequently refined using graphical editing while overlaying the model with orthographic imagery. Along with this semi-automatic method for generating façade models, manual plotting of library objects can also be used to generate a BIM model from survey data. After the 3D model has been completed conservation documents such as plans, sections, elevations and 3D views can be automatically generated for conservation projects.
Development of an ITER relevant inspection robot
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Gargiulo, L.; Bayetti, P.; Cordier, J.J.; Grisolia, C.; Hatchressian, J.C. [Association Euratom-CEA, Cadarache (France). Dept. de Recherche sur la Fusion Controlee; Friconneau, J.P.; Keller, D.; Perrot, Y. [CEA-LIST Robotics and Interactive Systems Unit, Fontenay aux Roses (France)
2007-07-01
Robotic operations are one of the major maintenance challenges for ITER and future fusion reactors. In particular, in vessel inspection operations without loss of conditioning could be very useful. Within this framework, the aim of the project called AIA (Articulated Inspection Arm) is to demonstrate the feasibility of a multi-purpose in-vessel Remote Handling inspection system using a long reach, limited payload carrier (up to 10 kg). It is composed of 5 segments with 11 degrees of freedom and a total range of 8 m. The project is currently developed by the CEA within the European workprogramme. Its first in situ tests are planned this summer on the Tore Supra tokamak at Cadarache (France). They will validate chosen concepts for operations under ITER relevant vacuum and temperature conditions. After qualification, the arm will constitute a promising tool for generic application. Several processes are already considered for ITER maintenance and will be demonstrated on the AIA robot carrier: - The first embedded process is the viewing system. It is currently being manufactured and will allow for close visual inspection of the complex Plasma Facing Components (limiters, neutralisers, RF antennae, diagnostic windows, etc.). - In situ localisation of leakage based on helium sniffer is also studied to improve maintenance operations. - Finally the laser ablation system for PFC detritiation, also developed in CEA laboratories, is being fitted to be implanted into the robot and put into operation in Tore Supra. This paper deals with the integration of the robot in the Tore Supra tokamak and the advances in the development of the listed processes. It also introduces the current test campaign aiming to qualify the robot performance and reliability under vacuum and temperature conditions. (orig.)
Development of an ITER relevant inspection robot
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Gargiulo, Laurent [Association Euratom-CEA, Departement de Recherche sur la Fusion Controlee, CE Cadarache 13108 (France)], E-mail: laurent.gargiulo@cea.fr; Bayetti, Pascal; Bruno, Vincent; Cordier, Jean-Jacques [Association Euratom-CEA, Departement de Recherche sur la Fusion Controlee, CE Cadarache 13108 (France); Friconneau, Jean-Pierre [CEA-LIST Robotics and Interactive Systems Unit, CE Fontenay Aux Roses (France); Grisolia, Christian; Hatchressian, Jean-Claude; Houry, Michael [Association Euratom-CEA, Departement de Recherche sur la Fusion Controlee, CE Cadarache 13108 (France); Keller, Delphine; Perrot, Yann [CEA-LIST Robotics and Interactive Systems Unit, CE Fontenay Aux Roses (France)
2008-12-15
Robotic operations are one of the major maintenance challenges for ITER and future fusion reactors. In particular, in-vessel inspection operations without loss of conditioning will be mandatory. In this context, an Articulated Inspection Arm (AIA) is currently developed by the CEA within the European work programme framework, which aims at demonstrating the feasibility of a multi-purpose in-vessel Remote Handling inspection system using a long reach, limited payload carrier (up to 10 kg). It is composed of 5 segments with 8 degrees of freedom and a total range of 8 m. The first in situ tests will take place by the end of 2007 on the Tore Supra Tokamak at Cadarache (France). They will validate concepts for operations under ITER relevant vacuum and temperature conditions. After qualification, the arm will constitute a promising tool for various applications. Several processes are already considered for ITER maintenance and will be demonstrated on the AIA robot carrier: - The first embedded process is the viewing system. It is already manufactured and will allow close visual inspection of the complex Plasma Facing Components (PFC) (limiters, neutralisers, RF antenna, diagnostic windows, etc.). - In situ localisation of water leakage based on a helium sniffing system is also being studied to improve and facilitate maintenance operations. - Finally a laser ablation system for PFC detritiation, developed in CEA laboratories, is being fitted to be implemented on the robot for future operation in Tore Supra. This paper deals with the integration of the robot into Tore Supra and the progress in the development of the processes listed above. It also describes the current test campaign aiming to qualify the robot performance and reliability under vacuum and temperature conditions.
Development of an ITER relevant inspection robot
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gargiulo, L.; Bayetti, P.; Cordier, J.J.; Grisolia, C.; Hatchressian, J.C.
2007-01-01
Robotic operations are one of the major maintenance challenges for ITER and future fusion reactors. In particular, in vessel inspection operations without loss of conditioning could be very useful. Within this framework, the aim of the project called AIA (Articulated Inspection Arm) is to demonstrate the feasibility of a multi-purpose in-vessel Remote Handling inspection system using a long reach, limited payload carrier (up to 10 kg). It is composed of 5 segments with 11 degrees of freedom and a total range of 8 m. The project is currently developed by the CEA within the European workprogramme. Its first in situ tests are planned this summer on the Tore Supra tokamak at Cadarache (France). They will validate chosen concepts for operations under ITER relevant vacuum and temperature conditions. After qualification, the arm will constitute a promising tool for generic application. Several processes are already considered for ITER maintenance and will be demonstrated on the AIA robot carrier: - The first embedded process is the viewing system. It is currently being manufactured and will allow for close visual inspection of the complex Plasma Facing Components (limiters, neutralisers, RF antennae, diagnostic windows, etc.). - In situ localisation of leakage based on helium sniffer is also studied to improve maintenance operations. - Finally the laser ablation system for PFC detritiation, also developed in CEA laboratories, is being fitted to be implanted into the robot and put into operation in Tore Supra. This paper deals with the integration of the robot in the Tore Supra tokamak and the advances in the development of the listed processes. It also introduces the current test campaign aiming to qualify the robot performance and reliability under vacuum and temperature conditions. (orig.)
Development of an ITER relevant inspection robot
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gargiulo, Laurent; Bayetti, Pascal; Bruno, Vincent; Cordier, Jean-Jacques; Friconneau, Jean-Pierre; Grisolia, Christian; Hatchressian, Jean-Claude; Houry, Michael; Keller, Delphine; Perrot, Yann
2008-01-01
Robotic operations are one of the major maintenance challenges for ITER and future fusion reactors. In particular, in-vessel inspection operations without loss of conditioning will be mandatory. In this context, an Articulated Inspection Arm (AIA) is currently developed by the CEA within the European work programme framework, which aims at demonstrating the feasibility of a multi-purpose in-vessel Remote Handling inspection system using a long reach, limited payload carrier (up to 10 kg). It is composed of 5 segments with 8 degrees of freedom and a total range of 8 m. The first in situ tests will take place by the end of 2007 on the Tore Supra Tokamak at Cadarache (France). They will validate concepts for operations under ITER relevant vacuum and temperature conditions. After qualification, the arm will constitute a promising tool for various applications. Several processes are already considered for ITER maintenance and will be demonstrated on the AIA robot carrier: - The first embedded process is the viewing system. It is already manufactured and will allow close visual inspection of the complex Plasma Facing Components (PFC) (limiters, neutralisers, RF antenna, diagnostic windows, etc.). - In situ localisation of water leakage based on a helium sniffing system is also being studied to improve and facilitate maintenance operations. - Finally a laser ablation system for PFC detritiation, developed in CEA laboratories, is being fitted to be implemented on the robot for future operation in Tore Supra. This paper deals with the integration of the robot into Tore Supra and the progress in the development of the processes listed above. It also describes the current test campaign aiming to qualify the robot performance and reliability under vacuum and temperature conditions
A Moving 3D Laser Scanner for Automated Underbridge Inspection
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Marco Tarabini
2017-12-01
Full Text Available Recent researches have proven that the underbridge geometry can be reconstructed by mounting a 3D laser scanner on a motorized cart travelling on a walkway located under the bridge. The walkway is moved by a truck and the accuracy of the bridge model depends on the accuracy of the trajectory of the scanning head with respect to a fixed reference system. In this paper, we describe a vision-based measurement system that can be used to identify the relative motion of the cart that moves the 3D laser scanner with respect to the walkway. The orientation of the walkway with respect to the bridge is determined using inclinometers and a camera that detect the position of a laser spot, while the position of the truck with respect to the bridge is measured using a conventional odometer. The accuracy of the proposed system was initially evaluated by numerical simulations and successively verified by experiments in laboratory conditions. The complete system has then been tested by comparing the geometry of buildings reconstructed using the proposed system with the geometry obtained with a static scan. Results showed that the error is less than 6 mm; given the satisfying quality of the point clouds obtained, it is also possible to detect small defects on the surface.
Developing a more useful surface quality metric for laser optics
Turchette, Quentin; Turner, Trey
2011-02-01
Light scatter due to surface defects on laser resonator optics produces losses which lower system efficiency and output power. The traditional methodology for surface quality inspection involves visual comparison of a component to scratch and dig (SAD) standards under controlled lighting and viewing conditions. Unfortunately, this process is subjective and operator dependent. Also, there is no clear correlation between inspection results and the actual performance impact of the optic in a laser resonator. As a result, laser manufacturers often overspecify surface quality in order to ensure that optics will not degrade laser performance due to scatter. This can drive up component costs and lengthen lead times. Alternatively, an objective test system for measuring optical scatter from defects can be constructed with a microscope, calibrated lighting, a CCD detector and image processing software. This approach is quantitative, highly repeatable and totally operator independent. Furthermore, it is flexible, allowing the user to set threshold levels as to what will or will not constitute a defect. This paper details how this automated, quantitative type of surface quality measurement can be constructed, and shows how its results correlate against conventional loss measurement techniques such as cavity ringdown times.
Automatic Tree Data Removal Method for Topography Measurement Result Using Terrestrial Laser Scanner
Yokoyama, H.; Chikatsu, H.
2017-02-01
Recently, laser scanning has been receiving greater attention as a useful tool for real-time 3D data acquisition, and various applications such as city modelling, DTM generation and 3D modelling of cultural heritage sites have been proposed. And, former digital data processing were demanded in the past digital archive techniques for cultural heritage sites. However, robust filtering method for distinguishing on- and off-terrain points by terrestrial laser scanner still have many issues. In the past investigation, former digital data processing using air-bone laser scanner were reported. Though, efficient tree removal methods from terrain points for the cultural heritage are not considered. In this paper, authors describe a new robust filtering method for cultural heritage using terrestrial laser scanner with "the echo digital processing technology" as latest data processing techniques of terrestrial laser scanner.
Laser-Based Maintenance and Repair Technologies for Reactor Components
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Masaki Yoda; Naruhiko Mukai; Makoto Ochiai; Masataka Tamura; Satoshi Okada; Katsuhiko Sato; Motohiko Kimura; Yuji Sano; Noboru Saito; Seishi Shima; Tetsuo Yamamoto
2004-01-01
Toshiba has developed various laser-based maintenance and repair technologies and applied them to existing nuclear power plants. Laser-based technology is considered to be the best tool for remote processing in nuclear power plants, and particularly so for the maintenance and repair of reactor core components. Accessibility could be drastically improved by a simple handling system owing to the absence of reactive force against laser irradiation and the flexible optical fiber. For the preventive maintenance, laser peening (LP) technology was developed and applied to reactor components in operating BWR plants. LP is a novel process to improve residual stress from tensile to compressive on material surface layer by irradiating focused high-power laser pulses in water. We have developed a fiber-delivered LP system as a preventive maintenance measure against stress corrosion cracking (SCC). Laser ultrasonic testing (LUT) has a great potential to be applied to the remote inspection of reactor components. Laser-induced surface acoustic wave (SAW) inspection system was developed using a compact probe with a multi-mode optical fiber and an interferometer. The developed system successfully detected a micro slit of 0.5 mm depth on weld metal and heat-affected zone (HAZ). An artificial SCC was also detected by the system. We are developing a new LP system combined with LUT to treat the inner surface of bottom-mounted instruments (BMI) of PWR plants. Underwater laser seal welding (LSW) technology was also developed to apply surface crack. LSW is expected to isolate the crack tip from corrosive water environment and to stop the propagation of the crack. Rapid heating and cooling of the process minimize the heat effect, which extends the applicability to neutron-irradiated material. This paper describes recent advances in the development and application of such laser-based technologies. (authors)
6kW class laser cutting equipment; 6kW daishutsuryoku laser setsudanki ni yoru atsuita setsudan
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Nagata, Y.; Nagahori, M. [Tanaka Engineering Works Ltd., Saitama (Japan)
1994-11-01
Application of the laser cutting machine to the area of cutting steel plates of 5 mm thick or more was first enabled in 1990 by the 2 kW oscillator that was introduced in that year. The thick plate cutting industry has a short history. This paper describes the features and performance of the 6 kW laser cutting machine that was announced in April, 1994. The machine uses a newly developed high-speed axial flow type carbon dioxide laser oscillater with the rated output of 6 kW. As the discharge excitation method, the machine adopted the RF (radio frequency) method that causes low contamination in the discharge tube. The 6 kW laser cutting machine has a number of features such as a large cutting area provided by the oscillator contained in the cutting machine, cutting quality stabilized by the optical path length fixing unit, and automatic functions such as automatic setting of the cutting conditions and scheduled operation. The machine can cut mild steel plates of up to 40 mm thick (or up to 16 mm for stainless steel plates) at the cutting speed of 1600 mm/min for a 16 mm thick plate and 2200 mm/min for a 12 mm thick plate, with the good cut sectional surface. 5 figs., 1 tab.
[Integrated Development of Full-automatic Fluorescence Analyzer].
Zhang, Mei; Lin, Zhibo; Yuan, Peng; Yao, Zhifeng; Hu, Yueming
2015-10-01
In view of the fact that medical inspection equipment sold in the domestic market is mainly imported from abroad and very expensive, we developed a full-automatic fluorescence analyzer in our center, presented in this paper. The present paper introduces the hardware architecture design of FPGA/DSP motion controlling card+PC+ STM32 embedded micro processing unit, software system based on C# multi thread, design and implementation of double-unit communication in detail. By simplifying the hardware structure, selecting hardware legitimately and adopting control system software to object-oriented technology, we have improved the precision and velocity of the control system significantly. Finally, the performance test showed that the control system could meet the needs of automated fluorescence analyzer on the functionality, performance and cost.
Software Formal Inspections Guidebook
1993-01-01
The Software Formal Inspections Guidebook is designed to support the inspection process of software developed by and for NASA. This document provides information on how to implement a recommended and proven method for conducting formal inspections of NASA software. This Guidebook is a companion document to NASA Standard 2202-93, Software Formal Inspections Standard, approved April 1993, which provides the rules, procedures, and specific requirements for conducting software formal inspections. Application of the Formal Inspections Standard is optional to NASA program or project management. In cases where program or project management decide to use the formal inspections method, this Guidebook provides additional information on how to establish and implement the process. The goal of the formal inspections process as documented in the above-mentioned Standard and this Guidebook is to provide a framework and model for an inspection process that will enable the detection and elimination of defects as early as possible in the software life cycle. An ancillary aspect of the formal inspection process incorporates the collection and analysis of inspection data to effect continual improvement in the inspection process and the quality of the software subjected to the process.
Methods for registration laser scanner point clouds in forest stands
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bienert, A.; Pech, K.; Maas, H.-G.
2011-01-01
Laser scanning is a fast and efficient 3-D measurement technique to capture surface points describing the geometry of a complex object in an accurate and reliable way. Besides airborne laser scanning, terrestrial laser scanning finds growing interest for forestry applications. These two different recording platforms show large differences in resolution, recording area and scan viewing direction. Using both datasets for a combined point cloud analysis may yield advantages because of their largely complementary information. In this paper, methods will be presented to automatically register airborne and terrestrial laser scanner point clouds of a forest stand. In a first step, tree detection is performed in both datasets in an automatic manner. In a second step, corresponding tree positions are determined using RANSAC. Finally, the geometric transformation is performed, divided in a coarse and fine registration. After a coarse registration, the fine registration is done in an iterative manner (ICP) using the point clouds itself. The methods are tested and validated with a dataset of a forest stand. The presented registration results provide accuracies which fulfill the forestry requirements [de
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Camas, J.; Anzueto, G.; Mendoza, S.; Hernandez, H.; Garcia, C.; Vazquez, R.
2009-01-01
In this work, we present a novel electronic design of a DC source, which automatically controls the temperature of a tunable laser. The temperature change in the laser is carried out by the control of DC that circulates through a cooling stage where the laser is set. The laser can be tuned in a wavelength around 1550 nm. Its application is in Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) in reflective configuration. (Author)
Status of optics on the OMEGA laser after 18 months of operation
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rigatti, A.L.; Smith, D.J.
1997-01-01
The 60-beam OMEGA laser has sustained approximately 1000 target shots without significant damage to the optics. Approximately 3000 optics on the OMEGA laser system were closely monitored during their installation, and inspections continue throughout the operation of the system. A review of the condition of these optics at each stage of the laser and a summary of the peak incident fluences are presented. The most severe damage on OMEGA is seen on the input, fused-silica, spatial filter lenses. Since these optics are under vacuum, inspection of damaged lenses occurs on a more frequent cycle to track the growth of the defect and to maintain the system's safety. An optic is replaced well before massive failure is expected to occur. Other optics on the system that exhibit different types of damage are BK-7 spatial filter lenses, focus lenses, and target mirrors. The majority of OMEGA optics are not damaging. These include the polarizers, frequency-conversion crystals, primary pickoff lenses, calorimeters, and liquid-crystal optics. Laser glass and development optics such as distributed phase plates are not covered in this review
Intelligent Image Analysis for Image-Guided Laser Hair Removal and Skin Therapy
Walker, Brian; Lu, Thomas; Chao, Tien-Hsin
2012-01-01
We present the development of advanced automatic target recognition (ATR) algorithms for the hair follicles identification in digital skin images to accurately direct the laser beam to remove the hair. The ATR system first performs a wavelet filtering to enhance the contrast of the hair features in the image. The system then extracts the unique features of the targets and sends the features to an Adaboost based classifier for training and recognition operations. The ATR system automatically classifies the hair, moles, or other skin lesion and provides the accurate coordinates of the intended hair follicle locations. The coordinates can be used to guide a scanning laser to focus energy only on the hair follicles. The intended benefit would be to protect the skin from unwanted laser exposure and to provide more effective skin therapy.
Shell Inspection History and Current CMM Inspection Efforts
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Montano, Joshua Daniel [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2017-01-26
The following report provides a review of past and current CMM Shell Inspection efforts. Calibration of the Sheffield rotary contour gauge has expired and the primary inspector, Matthew Naranjo, has retired. Efforts within the Inspection team are transitioning from maintaining and training new inspectors on Sheffield to off-the-shelf CMM technology. Although inspection of a shell has many requirements, the scope of the data presented in this report focuses on the inner contour, outer contour, radial wall thickness and mass comparisons.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Markin, J.T.
1989-01-01
As the numbers and complexity of nuclear facilities increase, limitations on resources for international safeguards may restrict attainment of safeguards goals. One option for improving the efficiency of limited resources is to expand the current inspection regime to include random allocation of the amount and frequency of inspection effort to material strata or to facilities. This paper identifies the changes in safeguards policy, administrative procedures, and operational procedures that would be necessary to accommodate randomized inspections and identifies those situations where randomization can improve inspection efficiency and those situations where the current nonrandom inspections should be maintained. 9 refs., 1 tab
Positioning means for circumferentially locating inspection apparatus in a nuclear reactor vessel
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Burns, D.C.
1980-01-01
There is provided for a reactor vessel inspection device a support ring sized to accommodate the circular path defined by three or more guide studs extending upwardly from the vessel. The support ring has at least three movably mounted guide stud bushings which can be positionally adjusted to align each bushing with one of the studs. When engaged, the guide studs and bushings yield a coarse positioning of the inspection device relative to the reactor vessel. Also provided are three support legs which are clamped to the support ring and dimensioned to an appropriate length. Two of the support legs have shoes clamped thereto, configured to rest on an internal circumferential flange within the reactor vessel. The third support leg is provided with a specially adapted shoe configured to engage a locating element, the exact position of which is known, within the vessel to achieve fine positioning of the inspection device relative to the reactor vessel. The support ring is additionally provided with an annular key which runs longitudinally about its outer periphery. Clamping means utilized to secure the guide stud bushings and the support legs to the support ring are provided with keyways to insure automatic self-alignment when fully tightened. (auth)
Inspection of internal tank welds using the ACFM inspection method
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Topp, D.A.; Lugg, M.C.
2009-01-01
The paper describes recent developments of the ACFM technique and describes several case studies where ACFM has been used to inspect the internal plate welds on large steel storage tanks in refineries. For weld inspection, conventional methods such as magnetic particle inspection or vacuum box testing are generally used. This paper presents comparisons of the results from ACFM with those from the conventional methods, from which conclusions are drawn as to the benefits this technique offers in terms of cost, time savings and inspection reliability. (author)
Coke drums inspection and evaluation using stress and strain analysis techniques
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Haraguchi, Marcio Issamu [Tricom Tecnologia e Servicos de Manutencao Industrial Ltda., Piquete, SP (Brazil); Samman, Mahmod [Houston Engineering Solutions, Houston, TX (United States); Tinoco, Ediberto Bastos; Marangone, Fabio de Castro; Silva, Hezio Rosa da; Barcelos, Gustavo de Carvalho [Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PETROBRAS), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)
2012-07-01
Coke drums deform due to a complex combination of mechanical and thermal cyclic stresses. Bulges have progressive behavior and represent the main maintenance problem related to these drums. Bulge failure typically result in through-wall cracks, leaks, and sometimes fires. Such failures generally do not represent a great risk to personnel. Repairs needed to maintain reliability of these vessels might require extensive interruption to operation which in turn considerably impacts the profitability of the unit. Therefore the condition, progression and severity of these bulges should be closely monitored. Coke drums can be inspected during turnaround with 3D Laser Scanning and Remote Visual Inspection (RVI) tools, resulting in a detailed dimensional and visual evaluation of the internal surface. A typical project has some goals: inspect the equipment to generate maintenance or inspection recommendations, comparison with previous results and baseline data. Until recently, coke drum structural analysis has been traditionally performed analyzing Stress Concentration Factors (SCF) thought Finite Element Analysis methods; however this technique has some serious technical and practical limitations. To avoid these shortcomings, the new strain analysis technique PSI (Plastic Strain Index) was developed. This method which is based on API 579/ ASME FFS standard failure limit represents the state of the art of coke drum bulging severity assessment has an excellent correlation with failure history. (author)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, K.
1979-01-01
The research has been directed toward fabrication, characterization, and positioning of cryogenic shell laser fusion targets, with particular emphasis on the development of a scheme which would allow for continuous fabrication, inspection, and delivery of the targets. Specifically, progress has been made in the following areas: (1) Fabrication of a uniform spherical shell of DT-condensate using a cold-wall target-freezing-cell. (2) Fabrication of a uniform spherical shell of liquid DT using a room-temperature wall target-freezing-cell. (3) Support-free cryogenic target fabrication using cold-gas-levitation. (4) Continuous fabrication of cryogenic targets using free-fall method. (5) Automatic characterization of DT-layer uniformity. (6) Sorting of DT-filled glass microshells using an interference microscope. (7) Development of an a-c interference microscope for accurate characterization of moving targets. (8) Development of a machine which is capable of producing a continuous stream of uniform DT spheres of controllable sizes. (9) Theoretical study on the behavior of liquid hydrogen contained in a spherical shell
RPII Inspection and Licensing Activities and Annual Inspection Programme for 2012
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
2012-04-01
The purpose of this document is to promote transparency in the activities of the RPII. It explains aspects of the internal workings of the Regulation and Information Management Division of the Institute to aid understanding of the processes and decisions of that Division which may impact on licensees and other interested parties. The objective of the report is to provide an overview of inspection activities of the RPII, to examine the evolution in licensee numbers and to outline the rationale in developing annual inspection programmes. All inspection activities are now carried out within the framework of a quality management system including; inspection planning, the training of inspectors, the conduct of inspections, as well as post inspection follow up and review. This report also provides an overview of the main features of the quality system
Wang, Bei; Wang, Xingyu; Ikeda, Akio; Nagamine, Takashi; Shibasaki, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Masatoshi
2014-01-01
EEG (Electroencephalograph) interpretation is important for the diagnosis of neurological disorders. The proper adjustment of the montage can highlight the EEG rhythm of interest and avoid false interpretation. The aim of this study was to develop an automatic reference selection method to identify a suitable reference. The results may contribute to the accurate inspection of the distribution of EEG rhythms for quantitative EEG interpretation. The method includes two pre-judgements and one iterative detection module. The diffuse case is initially identified by pre-judgement 1 when intermittent rhythmic waveforms occur over large areas along the scalp. The earlobe reference or averaged reference is adopted for the diffuse case due to the effect of the earlobe reference depending on pre-judgement 2. An iterative detection algorithm is developed for the localised case when the signal is distributed in a small area of the brain. The suitable averaged reference is finally determined based on the detected focal and distributed electrodes. The presented technique was applied to the pathological EEG recordings of nine patients. One example of the diffuse case is introduced by illustrating the results of the pre-judgements. The diffusely intermittent rhythmic slow wave is identified. The effect of active earlobe reference is analysed. Two examples of the localised case are presented, indicating the results of the iterative detection module. The focal and distributed electrodes are detected automatically during the repeating algorithm. The identification of diffuse and localised activity was satisfactory compared with the visual inspection. The EEG rhythm of interest can be highlighted using a suitable selected reference. The implementation of an automatic reference selection method is helpful to detect the distribution of an EEG rhythm, which can improve the accuracy of EEG interpretation during both visual inspection and automatic interpretation. Copyright © 2013 IPEM
Channel selection for automatic seizure detection
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Duun-Henriksen, Jonas; Kjaer, Troels Wesenberg; Madsen, Rasmus Elsborg
2012-01-01
Objective: To investigate the performance of epileptic seizure detection using only a few of the recorded EEG channels and the ability of software to select these channels compared with a neurophysiologist. Methods: Fifty-nine seizures and 1419 h of interictal EEG are used for training and testing...... of an automatic channel selection method. The characteristics of the seizures are extracted by the use of a wavelet analysis and classified by a support vector machine. The best channel selection method is based upon maximum variance during the seizure. Results: Using only three channels, a seizure detection...... sensitivity of 96% and a false detection rate of 0.14/h were obtained. This corresponds to the performance obtained when channels are selected through visual inspection by a clinical neurophysiologist, and constitutes a 4% improvement in sensitivity compared to seizure detection using channels recorded...
Sizing of small surface-breaking tight cracks by using laser-ultrasonics
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ochiai, M.; Miura, T.; Kuroda, H.; Yamamoto, S.; Onodera, T.
2004-01-01
On the nondestructive testing, not only detection but also sizing of crack is desirable because the crack depth is one of the most important parameter to evaluate the impact of the crack to the material, to estimate crack growth and ultimately to predict lifetime of the component. Moreover, accurate measurement of the crack depth optimizes countermeasures and timing of repairs, and eventually reduces total cost for plant maintenance. Laser-ultrasonic is a technique that uses two laser beams; one with a short pulse for the generation of ultrasound and another one, long pulse or continuous, coupled to an optical interferometer for detection. The technique features a large detection bandwidth, which is important for small defect inspection. Another feature of laser-ultrasonics is the remote optical scanning of generation and detection points, which enables to inspect components in narrow space and/or having complex shapes. A purpose of this paper is to describe the performance of a laser-ultrasonic testing (LUT) system on stress corrosion cracking (SCC) inspection. We have developed a new technique for sizing shallow cracks, say 0.5-1.5mm, based on the laser-induced surface wave and its frequency analysis. First, sizing capability of the system will be demonstrated by using an artificial surface-breaking slot having depth of 0-2mm in a stainless steel plate. Evaluated depths show good agreement with the machined slot depths within the accuracy of about a few hundred micrometers. Then, SCCs in a stainless steel plate are examined by using the system. Depth of SCC is evaluated every 0.2mm over the crack aperture length. The evaluated depths are compared with the depths measured by the destructive testing. (author)
Phasing of independent laser channels under impact SBS excitation
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Gordeev, A A; Efimkov, V F; Zubarev, I G; Mikhailov, S I [P N Lebedev Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation)
2015-10-31
It is shown experimentally that phasing of independent laser channels under impact SBS excitation calls for a stable difference in arm lengths, as in a classical Michelson interferometer. A scheme with automatic compensation for fluctuations of interferometer arm lengths has been proposed and experimentally implemented. This scheme makes it possible to perform stable phasing of two laser channels under standard laboratory conditions. (control of radiation parameters)
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Woodley, Anthony
1998-01-01
...) Challenge Inspections. The CWC is an intrusive inspection. The Challenge Inspection allows for a team of international inspectors to inspect on very short notice a naval facility suspected of violating the CWC...
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Triplett, William
1997-01-01
...) Challenge Inspection. The CWC is an intensive inspection. The Challenge Inspection allows for a team of international inspectors to inspect a naval facility suspected of violating the CWC on very short notice...
Qualitative analysis of laser cutting of CV joints for automobile industry
Aboites, Vicente; Ramirez, Roberto; Rayas, Juan
2005-02-01
The optimization of an automatic laser cutting system is reported. This CO2 laser system assisted by an O2 gas jet is used in the cutting of Constant Velocity (CV) joint for the automotive industry. The experimental parameters varied in order to obtain cuts with low roughness were the laser power, cutting speed and oxygen pressure. A mathematical model is presented which explains many of the features of the qualitative optimization realized.
General inspection strategy for fault diagnosis-minimizing the inspection costs
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Reinertsen, Rune; Wang Xiaozhong
1995-01-01
In this paper, a general inspection strategy for system fault diagnosis is presented. The procedure presented in this paper, is an improvement of methods described in papers by , and . This general strategy provides the optimal inspection procedure when the inspections require unequal effort and the minimum cut set probabilities are unequal. This feature makes the procedure described in this paper more useful for practical applications than the most recent procedure presented in the paper by Najmus-Saqib and Ishaque, which requires the minimum cut set probabilities to be equal. The inspection strategy described in this paper is based on first inspecting the basic event that will provide the maximum information gain per unit cost invested. The information gain is measured by the decrease of Shannon entropy. A detailed tutorial example is presented
Laser modes and threshold condition i N-mirror resonator
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Pedersen, Christian; Skettrup, Torben
1996-01-01
Two formal methods for finding laser modes and threshold conditions in laser resonators containing as many as N mirrors are presented. The first method is based on an analysis determining the reflectivity and the transmittivity of an N-mirror system with gain. This is an extension of the classical...... 2 × 2 matrix method. The second method is based on self-consistency equations for the system and directly yields the circulating fields of the individual resonators. A set of rules has been proved to allow these fields to be calculated directly by means of inspection. The laser oscillation condition...
Cargo container inspection test program at ARPA's Nonintrusive Inspection Technology Testbed
Volberding, Roy W.; Khan, Siraj M.
1994-10-01
An x-ray-based cargo inspection system test program is being conducted at the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA)-sponsored Nonintrusive Inspection Technology Testbed (NITT) located in the Port of Tacoma, Washington. The test program seeks to determine the performance that can be expected from a dual, high-energy x-ray cargo inspection system when inspecting ISO cargo containers. This paper describes an intensive, three-month, system test involving two independent test groups, one representing the criminal smuggling element and the other representing the law enforcement community. The first group, the `Red Team', prepares ISO containers for inspection at an off-site facility. An algorithm randomly selects and indicates the positions and preparation of cargoes within a container. The prepared container is dispatched to the NITT for inspection by the `Blue Team'. After in-gate processing, it is queued for examination. The Blue Team inspects the container and decides whether or not to pass the container. The shipment undergoes out-gate processing and returns to the Red Team. The results of the inspection are recorded for subsequent analysis. The test process, including its governing protocol, the cargoes, container preparation, the examination and results available at the time of submission are presented.
Laser cutting: industrial relevance, process optimization, and laser safety
Haferkamp, Heinz; Goede, Martin; von Busse, Alexander; Thuerk, Oliver
1998-09-01
Compared to other technological relevant laser machining processes, up to now laser cutting is the application most frequently used. With respect to the large amount of possible fields of application and the variety of different materials that can be machined, this technology has reached a stable position within the world market of material processing. Reachable machining quality for laser beam cutting is influenced by various laser and process parameters. Process integrated quality techniques have to be applied to ensure high-quality products and a cost effective use of the laser manufacturing plant. Therefore, rugged and versatile online process monitoring techniques at an affordable price would be desirable. Methods for the characterization of single plant components (e.g. laser source and optical path) have to be substituted by an omnivalent control system, capable of process data acquisition and analysis as well as the automatic adaptation of machining and laser parameters to changes in process and ambient conditions. At the Laser Zentrum Hannover eV, locally highly resolved thermographic measurements of the temperature distribution within the processing zone using cost effective measuring devices are performed. Characteristic values for cutting quality and plunge control as well as for the optimization of the surface roughness at the cutting edges can be deducted from the spatial distribution of the temperature field and the measured temperature gradients. Main influencing parameters on the temperature characteristic within the cutting zone are the laser beam intensity and pulse duration in pulse operation mode. For continuous operation mode, the temperature distribution is mainly determined by the laser output power related to the cutting velocity. With higher cutting velocities temperatures at the cutting front increase, reaching their maximum at the optimum cutting velocity. Here absorption of the incident laser radiation is drastically increased due to
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — FDA is disclosing the final inspection classification for inspections related to currently marketed FDA-regulated products. The disclosure of this information is not...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hélène Macher
2017-10-01
Full Text Available The creation of as-built Building Information Models requires the acquisition of the as-is state of existing buildings. Laser scanners are widely used to achieve this goal since they permit to collect information about object geometry in form of point clouds and provide a large amount of accurate data in a very fast way and with a high level of details. Unfortunately, the scan-to-BIM (Building Information Model process remains currently largely a manual process which is time consuming and error-prone. In this paper, a semi-automatic approach is presented for the 3D reconstruction of indoors of existing buildings from point clouds. Several segmentations are performed so that point clouds corresponding to grounds, ceilings and walls are extracted. Based on these point clouds, walls and slabs of buildings are reconstructed and described in the IFC format in order to be integrated into BIM software. The assessment of the approach is proposed thanks to two datasets. The evaluation items are the degree of automation, the transferability of the approach and the geometric quality of results of the 3D reconstruction. Additionally, quality indexes are introduced to inspect the results in order to be able to detect potential errors of reconstruction.
Mei, Shuang; Wang, Yudan; Wen, Guojun; Hu, Yang
2018-05-03
Increasing deployment of optical fiber networks and the need for reliable high bandwidth make the task of inspecting optical fiber connector end faces a crucial process that must not be neglected. Traditional end face inspections are usually performed by manual visual methods, which are low in efficiency and poor in precision for long-term industrial applications. More seriously, the inspection results cannot be quantified for subsequent analysis. Aiming at the characteristics of typical defects in the inspection process for optical fiber end faces, we propose a novel method, “difference of min-max ranking filtering” (DO2MR), for detection of region-based defects, e.g., dirt, oil, contamination, pits, and chips, and a special model, a “linear enhancement inspector” (LEI), for the detection of scratches. The DO2MR is a morphology method that intends to determine whether a pixel belongs to a defective region by comparing the difference of gray values of pixels in the neighborhood around the pixel. The LEI is also a morphology method that is designed to search for scratches at different orientations with a special linear detector. These two approaches can be easily integrated into optical inspection equipment for automatic quality verification. As far as we know, this is the first time that complete defect detection methods for optical fiber end faces are available in the literature. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed DO2MR and LEI models yield good comprehensive performance with high precision and accepted recall rates, and the image-level detection accuracies reach 96.0 and 89.3%, respectively.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shuang Mei
2018-05-01
Full Text Available Increasing deployment of optical fiber networks and the need for reliable high bandwidth make the task of inspecting optical fiber connector end faces a crucial process that must not be neglected. Traditional end face inspections are usually performed by manual visual methods, which are low in efficiency and poor in precision for long-term industrial applications. More seriously, the inspection results cannot be quantified for subsequent analysis. Aiming at the characteristics of typical defects in the inspection process for optical fiber end faces, we propose a novel method, “difference of min-max ranking filtering” (DO2MR, for detection of region-based defects, e.g., dirt, oil, contamination, pits, and chips, and a special model, a “linear enhancement inspector” (LEI, for the detection of scratches. The DO2MR is a morphology method that intends to determine whether a pixel belongs to a defective region by comparing the difference of gray values of pixels in the neighborhood around the pixel. The LEI is also a morphology method that is designed to search for scratches at different orientations with a special linear detector. These two approaches can be easily integrated into optical inspection equipment for automatic quality verification. As far as we know, this is the first time that complete defect detection methods for optical fiber end faces are available in the literature. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed DO2MR and LEI models yield good comprehensive performance with high precision and accepted recall rates, and the image-level detection accuracies reach 96.0 and 89.3%, respectively.
Towards operations on Tore Supra of an ITER relevant inspection robot and associated processes
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gargiulo, L.; Cordier, J.J.; Friconneau, J.P.; Grisolia, C.; Palmer, J.D.; Perrot, Y.; Samaille, F.
2007-01-01
The aim of the project is to demonstrate on Tore Supra the reliability of a multi-purpose in-vessel remote handling inspection system using a long reach, limited payload carrier. The robot prototype is fully representative of the deployment carrier system that could be required on ITER. The demonstration on Tore Supra will help in the understanding of operation issues that could occur in the tokamak vacuum vessel equipped of actively cooled components. The viewing process that is currently under development will allow close inspection of the Tore Supra plasma facing components that are representative of the ITER divertor targets in terms of confined environment and identification of possible tiles failure of CFC carbon tiles. One of the other potential inspection processes that is foreseen to be tested using the AIA carrier in Tore Supra is the laser ablation system of the CFC armour. It could be fully relevant for the ITER wall detritiation issues. Such process can be simulated on Tore Supra through the deuterium inventory under long-time plasma discharges. The in situ leakage localisation of a damaged plasma facing component is also one of the major ITER maintenance challenges that could use remote handling inspection tools
Towards operations on Tore Supra of an ITER relevant inspection robot and associated processes
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Gargiulo, L. [Association Euratom-CEA, DSM/Departement de Recherche sur la Fusion Controlee, CEA/Cadarache, F-13108 Saint Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France)], E-mail: laurent.gargiulo@cea.fr; Cordier, J.J. [Association Euratom-CEA, DSM/Departement de Recherche sur la Fusion Controlee, CEA/Cadarache, F-13108 Saint Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France); Friconneau, J.P. [CEA-LIST Robotics and Interactive Systems Unit, BP6 F-92265 Fontenay aux Roses Cedex (France); Grisolia, C. [Association Euratom-CEA, DSM/Departement de Recherche sur la Fusion Controlee, CEA/Cadarache, F-13108 Saint Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France); Palmer, J.D. [EFDA CSU, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasma Physik Boltzmannstr. 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Perrot, Y. [CEA-LIST Robotics and Interactive Systems Unit, BP6 F-92265 Fontenay aux Roses Cedex (France); Samaille, F. [Association Euratom-CEA, DSM/Departement de Recherche sur la Fusion Controlee, CEA/Cadarache, F-13108 Saint Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France)
2007-10-15
The aim of the project is to demonstrate on Tore Supra the reliability of a multi-purpose in-vessel remote handling inspection system using a long reach, limited payload carrier. The robot prototype is fully representative of the deployment carrier system that could be required on ITER. The demonstration on Tore Supra will help in the understanding of operation issues that could occur in the tokamak vacuum vessel equipped of actively cooled components. The viewing process that is currently under development will allow close inspection of the Tore Supra plasma facing components that are representative of the ITER divertor targets in terms of confined environment and identification of possible tiles failure of CFC carbon tiles. One of the other potential inspection processes that is foreseen to be tested using the AIA carrier in Tore Supra is the laser ablation system of the CFC armour. It could be fully relevant for the ITER wall detritiation issues. Such process can be simulated on Tore Supra through the deuterium inventory under long-time plasma discharges. The in situ leakage localisation of a damaged plasma facing component is also one of the major ITER maintenance challenges that could use remote handling inspection tools.
Optical fiber inspection system
Moore, Francis W.
1987-01-01
A remote optical inspection system including an inspection head. The inspection head has a passageway through which pellets or other objects are passed. A window is provided along the passageway through which light is beamed against the objects being inspected. A plurality of lens assemblies are arranged about the window so that reflected light can be gathered and transferred to a plurality of coherent optical fiber light guides. The light guides transfer the light images to a television or other image transducer which converts the optical images into a representative electronic signal. The electronic signal can then be displayed on a signal viewer such as a television monitor for inspection by a person. A staging means can be used to support the objects for viewing through the window. Routing means can be used to direct inspected objects into appropriate exit passages for accepted or rejected objects. The inspected objects are advantageously fed in a singular manner to the staging means and routing means. The inspection system is advantageously used in an enclosure when toxic or hazardous materials are being inspected.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Miyazaki, T.; Shinonaga, H. (Toshiba Corp., Tokyo (Japan))
1993-03-05
The nature peculiar to laser beam makes it difficult to understand the phenomena in laser cutting. Quoting an example of cutting steel materials, practical minimum basic subjects, factors governing the cutting phenomena with points to be considered, and the current state of the technology are outlined. Various kinds of expert systems and automatic programming devices have been placed on the market to make NC input easier in laser cutting. Shape accuracy, cutting quality, cutting speed, applicable plate thickness, etc. are among the subjects required for laser cutting. The factors are the method of scanning, characteristics of laser beam, work, machining conditions, etc. The factors obstructing stable processing are the change in the ambient temperature, humidity, dust, oil mist, vibration, etc. The basic factors which control the laser cutting are the power density and its distribution at the working point. Pulse cutting is employed when continuous laser heat input is not appropriate. Summarized report is made on the focal point and assist gas. 16 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.
Developments of integrated laser crystals by a direct bonding method
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sugiyama, Akira; Fukuyama, Hiroyasu; Katsumata, Masaki; Tanaka, Mitsuhiro; Okada, Yukikatu
2003-01-01
Laser crystal integration using a neodymium-doped yttrium vanadate (or orthovanadate) laser crystal, and non-doped yttrium vanadate crystals that function as cold fingers has been demonstrated. A newly developed dry etching process was adopted in the preparation for contact of mechanically polished surfaces. In the heat treatment process, temperature optimization was essential to get rid of precipitation of vanadic acid caused by the thermo-chemical reaction in a vacuum furnace. The bonded crystal was studied via optical characteristics, magnified inspections, laser output performances pumped by a CW laser diode. From these experiments, it was clear that the integrated Nd:YVO 4 laser crystal, securing the well-improved thermal conductivity, can increase laser output power nearly twice that of the conventional single crystal which was cracked in high power laser pumping of 10 W due to its intrinsic poor thermal conductivity. (author)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lee, Jinyi; Shoji, Tetsuo
1999-01-01
A new remote sensing system using the magneto-optical method is developed for inspection of flaws introduced during service operation where routine inspection is difficult because of difficult inaccessibility to the components. Among the advantages of non-destructive inspection (NDI) based on the magneto-optical sensor are: real time inspection, elimination of electrical noise and high spatial resolution. Remote sensing of flaws is achieved using the basic principles of Faraday effect, optical permeability, and diffraction of a laser by the domain walls. This paper describes a novel remote NDI system using the principles of optics and LMF. The main characteristic of the system is that image data and LMF information can be obtained simultaneously. It is possible to carry out remote and high speed inspection of cracks from the intensity of reflected light, and to estimate the size of a crack effectively with their diverse data. The advantages of this NDI system are demonstrated using two specimens. (author)
Regulatory inspection of the egyptian gamma irradiator using a proposed inspection checklist
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Abdel-Ghani, A.H.
2000-01-01
Regulatory inspections are one of the most important elements of a regulatory programme. It shall be performed in all areas of the regulatory responsibility and during all phases of siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of an irradiator facility. The egyptian mega gamma irradiator operating since december 1979 has a Co-60 source of about 400 kilo curies and is used mainly for sterilization of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals and for preservation of some food stuffs. The constructor (Nordion international Inc.) recommended an extensive inspection programme. In accordance with the international and national (2.3) regulations as well as the licensing conditions, the competent authority (NCNSRC) shall perform regulatory inspections both announced and unannounced. In order to facilitate the inspection task and to harmonize the inspection reports a checklist for inspection is proposed which can be used also as an inspection report form
78 FR 54861 - Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance; Driver-Vehicle Inspection Report
2013-09-06
... No. FMCSA-2012-0336] RIN 2126-AB46 Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance; Driver-Vehicle Inspection... Federal Register of August 7, 2013, regarding driver vehicle inspection reports. The corrections involve..., Vehicle and Roadside Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and Operations, Federal Motor...
Additive Manufacturing Infrared Inspection
Gaddy, Darrell; Nettles, Mindy
2015-01-01
The Additive Manufacturing Infrared Inspection Task started the development of a real-time dimensional inspection technique and digital quality record for the additive manufacturing process using infrared camera imaging and processing techniques. This project will benefit additive manufacturing by providing real-time inspection of internal geometry that is not currently possible and reduce the time and cost of additive manufactured parts with automated real-time dimensional inspections which deletes post-production inspections.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Stoltz, M.
2009-01-01
To protect public health, the Health Products Inspection is a public service mission where the application of regulations concerning activities on human health products and cosmetic products is verified. This mission permits a global approach to assess the health products risk-based benefit and, in monitoring by laboratory testing and by on site inspections, to verify their compliance with appropriate regulations. The seventy five inspectors perform about eight hundred inspections per year, in France and abroad. These inspections are related to data provided in the health products assessment and also to manufacturing and delivery practices. The French inspection body is also involved in the training of foreign inspectors and in the harmonization of national, European and international practices either for operators than for the competent authorities. (author)
Development of a swim-type ROV for narrow space inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Okada, Satoshi; Otani, Kenichi; Kobayashi, Ryosuke; Ohno, Kazunori
2017-01-01
The swim-type remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for inspection of narrow spaces in nuclear power plants has been developed. Many structures are crowded in a confined space at regular intervals in the bottom area of a reactor. So, the thickness of the ROV shape is an important design point to ensure that the ROV can move in the space. The developed ROV has a three-dimensional swimming mechanism using six thrusters, three cameras for observing the position while moving and for making inspections easily, and a localization system. The localization system combines two elements: a gyroscope to detect the progression direction; and a slit laser that detects the progression distance using the optical cutting method. The localization method is called the modified inertial navigation (MIN) method and it was evaluated in a mock-up examination. The ROV was able to move smoothly using the MIN method and its position could be detected without making a mistake in the route followed. (author)
3D camera assisted fully automated calibration of scanning laser Doppler vibrometers
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sels, Seppe; Ribbens, Bart; Mertens, Luc; Vanlanduit, Steve
2016-01-01
Scanning laser Doppler vibrometers (LDV) are used to measure full-field vibration shapes of products and structures. In most commercially available scanning laser Doppler vibrometer systems the user manually draws a grid of measurement locations on a 2D camera image of the product. The determination of the correct physical measurement locations can be a time consuming and diffcult task. In this paper we present a new methodology for product testing and quality control that integrates 3D imaging techniques with vibration measurements. This procedure allows to test prototypes in a shorter period because physical measurements locations will be located automatically. The proposed methodology uses a 3D time-of-flight camera to measure the location and orientation of the test-object. The 3D image of the time-of-flight camera is then matched with the 3D-CAD model of the object in which measurement locations are pre-defined. A time of flight camera operates strictly in the near infrared spectrum. To improve the signal to noise ratio in the time-of-flight measurement, a time-of-flight camera uses a band filter. As a result of this filter, the laser spot of most laser vibrometers is invisible in the time-of-flight image. Therefore a 2D RGB-camera is used to find the laser-spot of the vibrometer. The laser spot is matched to the 3D image obtained by the time-of-flight camera. Next an automatic calibration procedure is used to aim the laser at the (pre)defined locations. Another benefit from this methodology is that it incorporates automatic mapping between a CAD model and the vibration measurements. This mapping can be used to visualize measurements directly on a 3D CAD model. Secondly the orientation of the CAD model is known with respect to the laser beam. This information can be used to find the direction of the measured vibration relatively to the surface of the object. With this direction, the vibration measurements can be compared more precisely with numerical
3D camera assisted fully automated calibration of scanning laser Doppler vibrometers
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sels, Seppe, E-mail: Seppe.Sels@uantwerpen.be; Ribbens, Bart; Mertens, Luc; Vanlanduit, Steve [Op3Mech Research Group, University of Antwerp, Salesianenlaan 90, 2660 Antwerp (Belgium)
2016-06-28
Scanning laser Doppler vibrometers (LDV) are used to measure full-field vibration shapes of products and structures. In most commercially available scanning laser Doppler vibrometer systems the user manually draws a grid of measurement locations on a 2D camera image of the product. The determination of the correct physical measurement locations can be a time consuming and diffcult task. In this paper we present a new methodology for product testing and quality control that integrates 3D imaging techniques with vibration measurements. This procedure allows to test prototypes in a shorter period because physical measurements locations will be located automatically. The proposed methodology uses a 3D time-of-flight camera to measure the location and orientation of the test-object. The 3D image of the time-of-flight camera is then matched with the 3D-CAD model of the object in which measurement locations are pre-defined. A time of flight camera operates strictly in the near infrared spectrum. To improve the signal to noise ratio in the time-of-flight measurement, a time-of-flight camera uses a band filter. As a result of this filter, the laser spot of most laser vibrometers is invisible in the time-of-flight image. Therefore a 2D RGB-camera is used to find the laser-spot of the vibrometer. The laser spot is matched to the 3D image obtained by the time-of-flight camera. Next an automatic calibration procedure is used to aim the laser at the (pre)defined locations. Another benefit from this methodology is that it incorporates automatic mapping between a CAD model and the vibration measurements. This mapping can be used to visualize measurements directly on a 3D CAD model. Secondly the orientation of the CAD model is known with respect to the laser beam. This information can be used to find the direction of the measured vibration relatively to the surface of the object. With this direction, the vibration measurements can be compared more precisely with numerical
Automatic neutron dosimetry system based on fluorescent nuclear track detector technology
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Akselrod, M.S.; Fomenko, V.V.; Bartz, J.A.; Haslett, T.L.
2014-01-01
For the first time, the authors are describing an automatic fluorescent nuclear track detector (FNTD) reader for neutron dosimetry. FNTD is a luminescent integrating type of detector made of aluminium oxide crystals that does not require electronics or batteries during irradiation. Non-destructive optical readout of the detector is performed using a confocal laser scanning fluorescence imaging with near-diffraction limited resolution. The fully automatic table-top reader allows one to load up to 216 detectors on a tray, read their engraved IDs using a CCD camera and optical character recognition, scan and process simultaneously two types of images in fluorescent and reflected laser light contrast to eliminate false-positive tracks related to surface and volume crystal imperfections. The FNTD dosimetry system allows one to measure neutron doses from 0.1 mSv to 20 Sv and covers neutron energies from thermal to 20 MeV. The reader is characterised by a robust, compact optical design, fast data processing electronics and user-friendly software. The first table-top automatic FNTD neutron dosimetry system was successfully tested for LLD, linearity and ability to measure neutrons in mixed neutron-photon fields satisfying US and ISO standards. This new neutron dosimetry system provides advantages over other technologies including environmental stability of the detector material, wide range of detectable neutron energies and doses, detector re-readability and re-usability and all-optical readout. A new adaptive image processing algorithm reliably removes false-positive tracks associated with surface and bulk crystal imperfections. (authors)
Grünbein, Marie Luise; Shoeman, Robert L; Doak, R Bruce
2018-03-19
To conduct X-ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) measurements at megahertz (MHz) repetition rates, sample solution must be delivered in a micron-sized liquid free-jet moving at up to 100 m/s. This exceeds by over a factor of two the jet speeds measurable with current high-speed camera techniques. Accordingly we have developed and describe herein an alternative jet velocimetry based on dual-pulse nanosecond laser illumination. Three separate implementations are described, including a small laser-diode system that is inexpensive and highly portable. We have also developed and describe analysis techniques to automatically and rapidly extract jet speed from dual-pulse images.
RANSAC approach for automated registration of terrestrial laser scans using linear features
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
K. Al-Durgham
2013-10-01
Full Text Available The registration process of terrestrial laser scans (TLS targets the problem of how to combine several laser scans in order to attain better information about features than what could be obtained through single scan. The main goal of the registration process is to estimate the parameters which determine geometrical variation between the origins of datasets collected from different locations. Scale, shifts, and rotation parameters are usually used to describe such variation. This paper presents a framework for the registration of overlapping terrestrial laser scans by establishing an automatic matching strategy that uses 3D linear features. More specifically, invariant separation characteristics between 3D linear features extracted from laser scans will be used to establish hypothesized conjugate linear features between the laser scans. These candidate matches are then used to geo-reference scans relative to a common reference frame. The registration workflow simulates the well-known RANndom Sample Consensus method (RANSAC for determining the registration parameters, whereas the iterative closest projected point (ICPP is utilized to determine the most probable solution of the transformation parameters from several solutions. The experimental results prove that the proposed methodology can be used for the automatic registration of terrestrial laser scans using linear features.
Information-Driven Inspections
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Laughter, Mark D.; Whitaker, J. Michael; Lockwood, Dunbar
2010-01-01
New uranium enrichment capacity is being built worldwide in response to perceived shortfalls in future supply. To meet increasing safeguards responsibilities with limited resources, the nonproliferation community is exploring next-generation concepts to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of safeguards, such as advanced technologies to enable unattended monitoring of nuclear material. These include attribute measurement technologies, data authentication tools, and transmission and security methods. However, there are several conceptual issues with how such data would be used to improve the ability of a safeguards inspectorate such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to reach better safeguards conclusions regarding the activities of a State. The IAEA is pursuing the implementation of information-driven safeguards, whereby all available sources of information are used to make the application of safeguards more effective and efficient. Data from continuous, unattended monitoring systems can be used to optimize on-site inspection scheduling and activities at declared facilities, resulting in fewer, better inspections. Such information-driven inspections are the logical evolution of inspection planning - making use of all available information to enhance scheduled and randomized inspections. Data collection and analysis approaches for unattended monitoring systems can be designed to protect sensitive information while enabling information-driven inspections. A number of such inspections within a predetermined range could reduce inspection frequency while providing an equal or greater level of deterrence against illicit activity, all while meeting operator and technology holder requirements and reducing inspector and operator burden. Three options for using unattended monitoring data to determine an information-driven inspection schedule are to (1) send all unattended monitoring data off-site, which will require advances in data analysis techniques to
Zhu, Jun; Chen, Lijun; Ma, Lantao; Li, Dejian; Jiang, Wei; Pan, Lihong; Shen, Huiting; Jia, Hongmin; Hsiang, Chingyun; Cheng, Guojie; Ling, Li; Chen, Shijie; Wang, Jun; Liao, Wenkui; Zhang, Gary
2014-04-01
Defect review is a time consuming job. Human error makes result inconsistent. The defects located on don't care area would not hurt the yield and no need to review them such as defects on dark area. However, critical area defects can impact yield dramatically and need more attention to review them such as defects on clear area. With decrease in integrated circuit dimensions, mask defects are always thousands detected during inspection even more. Traditional manual or simple classification approaches are unable to meet efficient and accuracy requirement. This paper focuses on automatic defect management and classification solution using image output of Lasertec inspection equipment and Anchor pattern centric image process technology. The number of mask defect found during an inspection is always in the range of thousands or even more. This system can handle large number defects with quick and accurate defect classification result. Our experiment includes Die to Die and Single Die modes. The classification accuracy can reach 87.4% and 93.3%. No critical or printable defects are missing in our test cases. The missing classification defects are 0.25% and 0.24% in Die to Die mode and Single Die mode. This kind of missing rate is encouraging and acceptable to apply on production line. The result can be output and reloaded back to inspection machine to have further review. This step helps users to validate some unsure defects with clear and magnification images when captured images can't provide enough information to make judgment. This system effectively reduces expensive inline defect review time. As a fully inline automated defect management solution, the system could be compatible with current inspection approach and integrated with optical simulation even scoring function and guide wafer level defect inspection.
Fully automatic registration and segmentation of first-pass myocardial perfusion MR image sequences.
Gupta, Vikas; Hendriks, Emile A; Milles, Julien; van der Geest, Rob J; Jerosch-Herold, Michael; Reiber, Johan H C; Lelieveldt, Boudewijn P F
2010-11-01
Derivation of diagnostically relevant parameters from first-pass myocardial perfusion magnetic resonance images involves the tedious and time-consuming manual segmentation of the myocardium in a large number of images. To reduce the manual interaction and expedite the perfusion analysis, we propose an automatic registration and segmentation method for the derivation of perfusion linked parameters. A complete automation was accomplished by first registering misaligned images using a method based on independent component analysis, and then using the registered data to automatically segment the myocardium with active appearance models. We used 18 perfusion studies (100 images per study) for validation in which the automatically obtained (AO) contours were compared with expert drawn contours on the basis of point-to-curve error, Dice index, and relative perfusion upslope in the myocardium. Visual inspection revealed successful segmentation in 15 out of 18 studies. Comparison of the AO contours with expert drawn contours yielded 2.23 ± 0.53 mm and 0.91 ± 0.02 as point-to-curve error and Dice index, respectively. The average difference between manually and automatically obtained relative upslope parameters was found to be statistically insignificant (P = .37). Moreover, the analysis time per slice was reduced from 20 minutes (manual) to 1.5 minutes (automatic). We proposed an automatic method that significantly reduced the time required for analysis of first-pass cardiac magnetic resonance perfusion images. The robustness and accuracy of the proposed method were demonstrated by the high spatial correspondence and statistically insignificant difference in perfusion parameters, when AO contours were compared with expert drawn contours. Copyright © 2010 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Teleoperated Visual Inspection and Surveillance with Unmanned Ground and Aerial Vehicles
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Viatcheslav Tretyakov
2008-11-01
Full Text Available This paper introduces our robotic system named UGAV (Unmanned Ground-Air Vehicle consisting of two semi-autonomous robot platforms, an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV. The paper focuses on three topics of the inspection with the combined UGV and UAV: (A teleoperated control by means of cell or smart phones with a new concept of automatic configuration of the smart phone based on a RKI-XML description of the vehicles control capabilities, (B the camera and vision system with the focus to real time feature extraction e.g. for the tracking of the UAV and (C the architecture and hardware of the UAV
Automatic Detection of Electric Power Troubles (ADEPT)
Wang, Caroline; Zeanah, Hugh; Anderson, Audie; Patrick, Clint; Brady, Mike; Ford, Donnie
1988-11-01
Automatic Detection of Electric Power Troubles (A DEPT) is an expert system that integrates knowledge from three different suppliers to offer an advanced fault-detection system. It is designed for two modes of operation: real time fault isolation and simulated modeling. Real time fault isolation of components is accomplished on a power system breadboard through the Fault Isolation Expert System (FIES II) interface with a rule system developed in-house. Faults are quickly detected and displayed and the rules and chain of reasoning optionally provided on a laser printer. This system consists of a simulated space station power module using direct-current power supplies for solar arrays on three power buses. For tests of the system's ablilty to locate faults inserted via switches, loads are configured by an INTEL microcomputer and the Symbolics artificial intelligence development system. As these loads are resistive in nature, Ohm's Law is used as the basis for rules by which faults are located. The three-bus system can correct faults automatically where there is a surplus of power available on any of the three buses. Techniques developed and used can be applied readily to other control systems requiring rapid intelligent decisions. Simulated modeling, used for theoretical studies, is implemented using a modified version of Kennedy Space Center's KATE (Knowledge-Based Automatic Test Equipment), FIES II windowing, and an ADEPT knowledge base.
INSPECT: a package of computer programs for planning safeguards inspections
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wincek, M.A.; Mullen, M.F.
1979-04-01
As part of the U.S. program to provide technical assistance to the International Atomic Energy Agency, a package of computer programs was developed for use in planning safeguards inspections of various types of nuclear facilities. The INSPECT software package is a set of five interactive FORTRAN programs which can be used to calculate the variance components of the MUF (Material Unaccounted For) statistic, the variance components of the D (difference) statistic, attribute and variables sampling plans, a measure of the effectiveness of the inspection, and a measurement of the cost of implementing the inspection plan. This report describes the programs and explains how to use them
An automatic tooth preparation technique: A preliminary study
Yuan, Fusong; Wang, Yong; Zhang, Yaopeng; Sun, Yuchun; Wang, Dangxiao; Lyu, Peijun
2016-04-01
The aim of this study is to validate the feasibility and accuracy of a new automatic tooth preparation technique in dental healthcare. An automatic tooth preparation robotic device with three-dimensional motion planning software was developed, which controlled an ultra-short pulse laser (USPL) beam (wavelength 1,064 nm, pulse width 15 ps, output power 30 W, and repeat frequency rate 100 kHz) to complete the tooth preparation process. A total of 15 freshly extracted human intact first molars were collected and fixed into a phantom head, and the target preparation shapes of these molars were designed using customised computer-aided design (CAD) software. The accuracy of tooth preparation was evaluated using the Geomagic Studio and Imageware software, and the preparing time of each tooth was recorded. Compared with the target preparation shape, the average shape error of the 15 prepared molars was 0.05-0.17 mm, the preparation depth error of the occlusal surface was approximately 0.097 mm, and the error of the convergence angle was approximately 1.0°. The average preparation time was 17 minutes. These results validated the accuracy and feasibility of the automatic tooth preparation technique.
Qualitative analysis of laser cutting of CV joints for the automobile industry
Aboites, V.; Ramírez, R.; Rayas, J.
2006-02-01
The optimization of an automatic laser cutting system is reported. This CO II laser system assisted by an O II gas jet is used in the cutting of Constant Velocity (CV) joint for the automotive industry. The experimental parameters varied in order to obtain cuts with low roughness were the laser power, cutting speed and oxygen pressure. A mathematical model is presented which explains many of the features of the qualitative optimization realized.
Automation of eddy current system for in-service inspection of turbine and generator rotor bores
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Anon.
1987-01-01
The current project (EPRI-RP-1975-5) is a continuation of activities that began several years ago. Those results (EPRI-RP-1957-1) indicated that eddy current testing shows promise for in-service inspection. The current project investigates the degree to which eddy current testing can be used to replace bore magnetic particle testing. For this purpose, correlation studies between eddy current and magnetic particle tests are being undertaken on laboratory rotor sections and field test pieces of rotors. The eddy current data are to be gathered automatically by a combination of the Nortec-25L Eddyscope (to provide the analog eddy current signals) and the General Electric DATAQ/sup TM/ (a registered trademark of the General Electric Co.) System (to perform the automatic data acquisition). This paper describes some test results on a flaked laboratory rotor section
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Tsuji, Tadashi.
1990-01-01
The fuel inspection device of the present invention has a feature of obtaining an optimum illumination upon fuel rod interval inspection operation in a fuel pool. That is, an illumination main body used underwater is connected to a cable which is led out on a floor. A light control device is attached to the other end of the cable and an electric power cable is connected to the light control device. A light source (for example, incandescent lamp) is incorporated in the casing of the illumination main body, and a diffusion plate is disposed at the front to provide a plane light source. The light control device has a light control knob capable of remote-controlling the brightness of the light of the illumination main body. In the fuel inspection device thus constituted, halation is scarcely caused on the image screen upon inspection of fuels by a submerged type television camera to facilitate control upon inspection. Accordingly, efficiency of the fuel inspection can be improved to shorten the operation time. (I.S.)
Robotics Inspection Vehicle for Advanced Storages
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Ruiz, Emilio; Renaldi, Graziano; Puig, David; Franzetti, Michele; Correcher, Carlos [European Commission, Ispra (Italy). Inst. for the Protection and Security of the Citizen
2003-05-01
After the dismantling of nuclear weapons and the probable release of large quantities of weapon graded materials under international verification regimes, there will be a wide interest in unmanned, highly automated and secure storage areas. In such circumstances, robotics technologies can provide an effective answer to the problem of securing, manipulating and inventorying all stored materials. In view of this future application JRC's NPNS started the development and construction of an advanced robotics prototype and demonstration system, named Robotics Inspection Vehicle (RIV), for remote inspection, surveillance and remote handling in those areas. The system was designed to meet requirements of reliability, security, high availability, robustness against radiation effects, self-maintainability (i.e., auto-repair capability), and easy installation. Due to its innovative holonomic design, RIV is a highly maneuverable and agile platform able to move in any direction, including sideways. The platform carries on-board a five degree of freedom manipulator arm. The high maneuverability and operation modes take into account the needs for accessing in the most easy way materials in the storage area. The platform is prepared to operate in one of three modes: i) manual tele-operation, ii) semiautonomous and iii) fully autonomous. The paper describes RIV's main design features, and details its GENERIS based control software [JRC's software architecture for robotics] and embedded sensors (i.e., 3D laser range, transponder antenna, ultra-sound, vision-based robot guidance, force-torque sensors, etc.). RIV was designed to incorporate several JRC innovative surveillance and inspection technologies and reveals that the current state of technology is mature to effectively provide a solution to novel storage solutions. The system is available for demonstration at JRC's Rialto Laboratory.
Yin, Bo; Liu, Li; Wang, Jiahan; Li, Xiran; Liu, Zhenbo; Li, Dewei; Wang, Jun; Liu, Lu; Wu, Jun; Xu, Tingting; Cui, He
2017-10-01
Electric energy measurement as a basic work, an accurate measurements play a vital role for the economic interests of both parties of power supply, the standardized management of the measurement laboratory at all levels is a direct factor that directly affects the fairness of measurement. Currently, the management of metering laboratories generally uses one-dimensional bar code as the recognition object, advances the testing process by manual management, most of the test data requires human input to generate reports. There are many problems and potential risks in this process: Data cannot be saved completely, cannot trace the status of inspection, the inspection process isn't completely controllable and so on. For the provincial metrology center's actual requirements of the whole process management for the performance test of the power measuring appliances, using of large-capacity RF tags as a process management information media, we developed a set of general measurement experiment management system, formulated a standardized full performance test process, improved the raw data recording mode of experimental process, developed a storehouse automatic inventory device, established a strict test sample transfer and storage system, ensured that all the raw data of the inspection can be traced back, achieved full life-cycle control of the sample, significantly improved the quality control level and the effectiveness of inspection work.
Development of hole inspection program using touch trigger probe on CNC machine tools
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lee, Chan Ho; Lee, Eung Suk
2012-01-01
According to many customers' requests, optical measurement module (OMM) applications using automatic measuring devices to measure the machined part rapidly on a machine tool have increased steeply. Touch trigger probes are being used for job setup and feature inspection as automatic measuring devices, and this makes quality checking and machining compensation possible. Therefore, in this study, the use of touch trigger probes for accurate measurement of the machined part has been studied and a macro program for a hole measuring cycle has been developed. This hole is the most common feature to be measured, but conventional methods are still not free from measuring error. In addition, the eccentricity change of the least square circle was simulated according to the roundness error in a hole measurement. To evaluate the reliability of this study, the developed hole measuring program was executed to measure the hole plate on the machine and verify the roundness error in the eccentricity simulation result
Inspection of training activities by the NRC's Office of Inspection and Enforcement
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ruhlman, W.A.
1975-01-01
New requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations, the issuance of new Regulatory Guides and ANSI Standards, have indicated the increased emphasis being placed on training by forces in the Nuclear Industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A brief description is presented of the functions of the Office of Inspection and Enforcement in the training areas. Three areas are examined: general inspection techniques; training inspection scope; and training inspection bases
OSE inspection of protection program operations field perspective of inspections
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Brown, R.W.; Martin, H.R.
1987-01-01
Protection Program Operations includes three functional areas: Physical Protection Systems, Protective Forces, and System Performance Testing. The Office of Security Evaluations (OSE) inspects field offices in these areas by evaluating programs relative to Standards and Criteria and by performing a variety of exercises and other types of tests to assure protective systems are effective and maintained at a proper level to meet the defined threat. Their perception of the OSE inspections has been positive. The approach taken by ID, with key areas/activities emphasized, during each phase of the field inspection process is described in this report. The most important areas for field offices to concentrate are: inspection preparations through self-evaluation, improving communications, assigning knowledgeable trusted agents, increasing awareness of facility procedures and operations, and assuring daily validations of inspected areas. Emphasis is placed on striving for a balance in reporting both positive and negative findings, and for consistency between ratings and the importance of report findings. OSE efforts to develop improved rating methodologies are encouraged
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
1985-01-01
Wavelength-stabilized lasers for length measurement, measurements of the refractive index of air, laser interferometers, acceptance tests of laser interferometer systems, the Michelson interferometer with semiconductor laser, and the state of the art of optical gyroscopes for angular position measurement are described in the general section. The examples of laser interferometer applications in production engineering comprise automatic acceptance testing of coordinate measuring systems, simultaneous laser measurements of the position and the pitching, yansing and rolling angles along a measuring line, a 3D-interferometer length measuring system, the calibration of standard measures, angular position measurements, straightness measurements, and laser interferometers as installed length measuring systems in machine tools and measuring machinery. There are no separate records of the 13 lectures presented at the meeting. (DG).
Application of ESPI techniques for the study of dynamic vibrations
Krupka, Rene
2004-06-01
Full field optical measurement techniques have already entered into various fields of industrial applications covering static as well as dynamic phenomena. The electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) allows the non contact, sensitive and three dimensional measurement of displacements in the sub micron range of objects with dimensions from mm2 to m2. For dynamic and transient phenomena, the use of pulsed laser have already been reported for various applications and successfully proven for the determination of the structural response of different components. In this paper we would like to present recent developments in the field of pulsed ESPI applications where emphasis is put onto the full field measurement result. The use of a completely computer controlled system allows easy access to mode shape characterization, deformation measurements and the characterization of transient events like shock wave propagation. Recent developments of the 3D-PulseESPI technique led to a very compact and complete system with improved characteristics regarding robustness and operation. The integrated design of the illumination laser and sensors for image acquisition allows easy aiming and adjustments with respect to the object of inspection. The laser is completely computer controlled which is advantageously used in a completely automatic brake squeal inspection system, which captures the squealing signal, automatically fires the laser and provides the complete deformation map of the component under test. Examples of recent applications in the field of dynamic structure response, with an emphasis in the field of automotive applications are given.
In service inspection and repair of sodium cooled ASTRID prototype
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Baque, F.; Jadot, F. [French Atomic Commission, Cadarache Centre, 13108 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex, (France); Marlier, R. [AREVA, 10 rue Recamier, 69456 Lyon cedex 06, (France); Saillant, J-F. [AREVA/NDE Solutions, 4 rue Thomas Dumorey, BP 70385, 71109 Chalon sur Saone Cedex, (France); Delalande, V. [EDF R and D, 6, quai Watier, 78400 Chatou, (France)
2015-07-01
In the frame of the large R and D work which is performed for the future ASTRID sodium cooled prototype, In Service Inspection and Repair (ISI and R) has been identified as a major issue to be taken into account in order to enlarge the plant safety, to consolidate its availability and to protect the associated investment. After the first part of pre-conceptual design phase (2008-2012), the running second part of pre-conceptual phase (2013-2015) allows to increase the ISI and R tool ability for immersed sodium structures of ASTRID, at about 200 deg. C, on the basis of consolidated specifications and thanks to their qualification through more and more realistic laboratory tests and simulation with CIVA code. ISI and R items are being developed and qualified during a pluri-annual program which mainly deals with the reactor block structures, the primary components and circuit, and the Power Conversion System. It ensures a strong connection between the reactor designers and inspection specialists, as the optimization of inspectability and repairability is looked at: this already induced specific rules for design, in order to shorten and ease the ISI and R operations, which have been merged into RCC-MRx rules. In the frame of increasing technology readiness level with corresponding performance demonstration, this paper presents R and D dealing with the ISI and R items: it highlights the sensor development (both ultrasonic and electromagnetic concepts, compatible with sodium at 200 deg. C), then their applications for ASTRID structure control (under sodium telemetry, imaging and NDE). Activity for repair is also presented (a single laser tool for sodium sweeping, machining and welding), and finally the effort for associated robotic (generic program for ASTRID applications, specific technological tools for sodium medium, tight immersed bell). The main results of testing and simulation are given for telemetry, vision, NDE applications, laser process repair and under sodium
Technical regulation of nondestructive inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1995-01-01
It starts with the explanation of definition of nondestructive inspection and qualifications for a inspection. It lists the technical regulations of nondestructive inspections which are radiographic testing, ultrasonic flaw detecting test, liquid penetrant test, magnetic particle inspection, eddy current test visual inspection and leakage test.
Techniques for preventing damage to high power laser components
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Stowers, I.F.; Patton, H.G.; Jones, W.A.; Wentworth, D.E.
1977-09-01
Techniques for preventing damage to components of the LASL Shiva high power laser system were briefly presented. Optical element damage in the disk amplifier from the combined fluence of the primary laser beam and the Xenon flash lamps that pump the cavity was discussed. Assembly and cleaning techniques were described which have improved optical element life by minimizing particulate and optically absorbing film contamination on assembled amplifier structures. A Class-100 vertical flaw clean room used for assembly and inspection of laser components was also described. The life of a disk amplifier was extended from less than 50 shots to 500 shots through application of these assembly and cleaning techniques
Guan, Xuefei; Rasselkorde, El Mahjoub; Abbasi, Waheed; Zhou, S. Kevin
2015-03-01
The study presents a data processing methodology for weld build-up using multiple scan patterns. To achieve an overall high probability of detection for flaws with different orientations, an inspection procedure with three different scan patterns is proposed. The three scan patterns are radial-tangential longitude wave pattern, axial-radial longitude wave pattern, and tangential shear wave pattern. Scientific fusion of the inspection data is implemented using volume reconstruction techniques. The idea is to perform spatial domain forward data mapping for all sampling points. A conservative scheme is employed to handle the case that multiple sampling points are mapped to one grid location. The scheme assigns the maximum value for the grid location to retain the largest equivalent reflector size for the location. The methodology is demonstrated and validated using a realistic ring of weld build-up. Tungsten balls and bars are embedded to the weld build-up during manufacturing process to represent natural flaws. Flat bottomed holes and side drilled holes are installed as artificial flaws. Automatic flaw identification and extraction are demonstrated. Results indicate the inspection procedure with multiple scan patterns can identify all the artificial and natural flaws.
The development and progress of XeCl Excimer laser system
Zhang, Yongsheng; Ma, Lianying; Wang, Dahui; Zhao, Xueqing; Zhu, Yongxiang; Hu, Yun; Qian, Hang; Shao, Bibo; Yi, Aiping; Liu, Jingru
2015-05-01
A large angularly multiplexed XeCl Excimer laser system is under development at the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology (NINT). It is designed to explore the technical issues of uniform and controllable target illumination. Short wavelength, uniform and controllable target illumination is the fundamental requirement of high energy density physics research using large laser facility. With broadband, extended light source and multi-beam overlapping techniques, rare gas halide Excimer laser facility will provide uniform target illumination theoretically. Angular multiplexing and image relay techniques are briefly reviewed and some of the limitations are examined to put it more practical. The system consists of a commercial oscillator front end, three gas discharge amplifiers, two electron beam pumped amplifiers and the optics required to relay, encode and decode the laser beam. An 18 lens array targeting optics direct and focus the laser in the vacuum target chamber. The system is operational and currently undergoing tests. The total 18 beams output energy is more than 100J and the pulse width is 7ns (FWHM), the intensities on the target will exceed 1013W/cm2. The aberration of off-axis imaging optics at main amplifier should be minimized to improve the final image quality at the target. Automatic computer controlled alignment of the whole system is vital to efficiency and stability of the laser system, an array of automatic alignment model is under test and will be incorporated in the system soon.
Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) Analysis of Laser Machine in Filling Lithos at PT X
Suryono, M. A. E.; Rosyidi, C. N.
2018-03-01
PT. X used automated machines which work for sixteen hours per day. Therefore, the machines should be maintained to keep the availability of the machines. The aim of this research is to determine maintenance tasks according to the cause of component’s failure using Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) and determine the amount of optimal inspection frequency which must be performed to the machine at filling lithos process. In this research, RCM is used as an analysis tool to determine the critical component and find optimal inspection frequencies to maximize machine’s reliability. From the analysis, we found that the critical machine in filling lithos process is laser machine in Line 2. Then we proceed to determine the cause of machine’s failure. Lastube component has the highest Risk Priority Number (RPN) among other components such as power supply, lens, chiller, laser siren, encoder, conveyor, and mirror galvo. Most of the components have operational consequences and the others have hidden failure consequences and safety consequences. Time-directed life-renewal task, failure finding task, and servicing task can be used to overcome these consequences. The results of data analysis show that the inspection must be performed once a month for laser machine in the form of preventive maintenance to lowering the downtime.
Principles of laser-plasma accelerators
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Malka, V.; Mora, P.
2009-01-01
The continuing development of powerful laser systems has permitted to extend the interaction of laser beams with matter far into the relativistic domain in which extremely high electric and magnetic fields are generated. Thanks to these tremendous fields, that only plasma can support and sustain, new and compact approaches for producing energetic particle beams have been recently achieved (for example the bubble regime and the colliding laser pulses scheme). The incredible progress of these laser-plasma accelerators has allowed physicists to produce high quality beams of energetic radiation and particles. These beams have interesting properties such as shortness, brightness and spatial quality, and could lend themselves to applications in many fields, including medicine (radiotherapy, proton therapy, imaging), radiation biology (short-time-scale), chemistry (radiolysis), physics and material science (radiography, electron and photon diffraction), security (material inspection), and of course accelerator science. Stimulated by the advent of compact and powerful lasers, with moderate costs and high repetition rate, this research field has witnessed considerable growth in the past few years, and the promises of laser-plasma accelerators are in tremendous progress. The recent years in particular have seen spectacular progress in the acceleration of electrons and of ions, both in terms of energy and in terms of quality of the beams. (authors)
Pulse-power circuit diagnostics for the Nova laser
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Christie, D.J.; Dallum, G.E.; Gritton, D.G.; Merritt, B.T.; Whitham, K.; Berkbigler, L.W.
1982-01-01
The Nova laser will have a large pulse power system for driving laser amplifiers, incorporating approximately 1600 flashlamp circuits. An automated system has been designed for diagnosing the condition of these flashlamp circuits. It records digitized circuit current waveforms and detects current excursions above a given threshold. In addition, it is able to fire flashlamps at a low energy to ascertain the health of the system. Data from this system can be ploted for inspection by the operator, analyzed by the computer system and archived for future reference
Novel inspection of welded joint microstructure using magneto-optical imaging technology
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gao Xiang-dong; Li Zheng-wen; You De-yong; Katayama, Seiji
2017-01-01
A novel method for measuring differences of microstructure by advanced use of the Faraday magneto-optical effect is proposed. Two groups of YAG laser welds on Q235 have been investigated in order to compare MO imaging and traditional methods. Microstructure images have been compared with MO images, and MO diagrams display different colors and gray scales for the base metal, the weld zone, and the heat affected zone. Experimental results indicate that the welded joint microstructure can be inspected by MO imaging without metallographic preparation. (paper)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
2017-01-01
The WGIP Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Observed Inspection Practices Program is intended to promote co-operation and learning among member countries and to collect and provide them with information for improving the effectiveness of existing regulatory inspection practices. This is accomplished by observing how inspections are carried out by other member countries and issuing a WGIP observed inspection report that includes observations (e.g. inspection techniques, obstacles encountered), lessons learnt and potential commendable practices that could be used by a regulatory body. This first triennial report documents the results of a consistency check performed between all six WGIP observed inspection reports and ratifies certain observations, lessons learnt and potential commendable practices identified by WGIP observed inspection participants
First results of laser welding of neutron irradiated stainless steel
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Osch, E.V. van; Hulst, D.S. d'; Laan, J.G. van der.
1994-10-01
First results of experimental investigations on the laser reweldability of neutron irradiated material are reported. These experiments include the manufacture of 'heterogeneous' joints, which means joining of irradiated stainless steel of type AISI 316L-SPH to 'fresh' unirradiated material. The newly developed laser welding facility in the ECN Hot Cell Laboratory and experimental procedures are described. Visual inspections of welded joints are reported as well as results of electron microscopy and preliminary metallographic examinations. (orig.)
Automatic inventory of components by laser 3D scanner
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rodriguez Garcia, R.; Munoz Prieto, C.; Sarti Fernandez, F.
2014-01-01
One of the existing needs in nuclear decommissioning projects is to provide an inventory of components to be dismantled, which is available from its spatial location and elements that exist in your environment. The Laser scanner technology is a system of data acquisition that allows 3D models composed of millions of points, it's models with pinpoint accuracy and are available in a very short space of time. (Author)
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hidetoshi Nakanishi
2015-11-01
Full Text Available A laser terahertz emission microscope (LTEM can be used for noncontact inspection to detect the waveforms of photoinduced terahertz emissions from material devices. In this study, we experimentally compared the performance of LTEM with conventional analysis methods, e.g., electroluminescence (EL, photoluminescence (PL, and laser beam induced current (LBIC, as an inspection method for solar cells. The results showed that LTEM was more sensitive to the characteristics of the depletion layer of the polycrystalline solar cell compared with EL, PL, and LBIC and that it could be used as a complementary tool to the conventional analysis methods for a solar cell.
Vision based tunnel inspection using non-rigid registration
Badshah, Amir; Ullah, Shan; Shahzad, Danish
2015-04-01
Growing numbers of long tunnels across the globe has increased the need for safety measurements and inspections of tunnels in these days. To avoid serious damages, tunnel inspection is highly recommended at regular intervals of time to find any deformations or cracks at the right time. While following the stringent safety and tunnel accessibility standards, conventional geodetic surveying using techniques of civil engineering and other manual and mechanical methods are time consuming and results in troublesome of routine life. An automatic tunnel inspection by image processing techniques using non rigid registration has been proposed. There are many other image processing methods used for image registration purposes. Most of the processes are operation of images in its spatial domain like finding edges and corners by Harris edge detection method. These methods are quite time consuming and fail for some or other reasons like for blurred or images with noise. Due to use of image features directly by these methods in the process, are known by the group, correlation by image features. The other method is featureless correlation, in which the images are converted into its frequency domain and then correlated with each other. The shift in spatial domain is the same as in frequency domain, but the processing is order faster than in spatial domain. In the proposed method modified normalized phase correlation has been used to find any shift between two images. As pre pre-processing the tunnel images i.e. reference and template are divided into small patches. All these relative patches are registered by the proposed modified normalized phase correlation. By the application of the proposed algorithm we get the pixel movement of the images. And then these pixels shifts are converted to measuring units like mm, cm etc. After the complete process if there is any shift in the tunnel at described points are located.
Arbitrary temporal shape pulsed fiber laser based on SPGD algorithm
Jiang, Min; Su, Rongtao; Zhang, Pengfei; Zhou, Pu
2018-06-01
A novel adaptive pulse shaping method for a pulsed master oscillator power amplifier fiber laser to deliver an arbitrary pulse shape is demonstrated. Numerical simulation has been performed to validate the feasibility of the scheme and provide meaningful guidance for the design of the algorithm control parameters. In the proof-of-concept experiment, information on the temporal property of the laser is exchanged and evaluated through a local area network, and the laser adjusted the parameters of the seed laser according to the monitored output of the system automatically. Various pulse shapes, including a rectangular shape, ‘M’ shape, and elliptical shape are achieved through experimental iterations.
New software tools for enhanced precision in robot-assisted laser phonomicrosurgery.
Dagnino, Giulio; Mattos, Leonardo S; Caldwell, Darwin G
2012-01-01
This paper describes a new software package created to enhance precision during robot-assisted laser phonomicrosurgery procedures. The new software is composed of three tools for camera calibration, automatic tumor segmentation, and laser tracking. These were designed and developed to improve the outcome of this demanding microsurgical technique, and were tested herein to produce quantitative performance data. The experimental setup was based on the motorized laser micromanipulator created by Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia and the experimental protocols followed are fully described in this paper. The results show the new tools are robust and effective: The camera calibration tool reduced residual errors (RMSE) to 0.009 ± 0.002 mm under 40× microscope magnification; the automatic tumor segmentation tool resulted in deep lesion segmentations comparable to manual segmentations (RMSE= 0.160 ± 0.028 mm under 40× magnification); and the laser tracker tool proved to be reliable even during cutting procedures (RMSE= 0.073 ± 0.023 mm under 40× magnification). These results demonstrate the new software package can provide excellent improvements to the previous microsurgical system, leading to important enhancements in surgical outcome.
Improvement and automatization of a proportional alpha-beta counting system - FAG
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
German, U.; Levinson, S.; Pelled, O.; Shemesh, Y.; Assido, H.
1997-01-01
An alpha and beta counting system - FAG*, for planchette samples is operated at the Health Physics department's laboratory of the NRCN. The original operation mode of the system was based on manual tasks handled by the FHT1 100 electronics. An option for a basic computer keyboard operation was available too. A computer with an appropriate I/O card was connected to the system and a new operating program was developed which enables full automatic control of the various components. The program includes activity calculations and statistical checks as well as data management. A bar-code laser system for sample number reading was integrated into the Alpha-Beta automatic counting system. The sample identification by means of an attached bar-code label enables unmistakable and reliable attribution of results to the counted sample. authors)
Risk Based Inspection Methodology and Software Applied to Atmospheric Storage Tanks
Topalis, P.; Korneliussen, G.; Hermanrud, J.; Steo, Y.
2012-05-01
A new risk-based inspection (RBI) methodology and software is presented in this paper. The objective of this work is to allow management of the inspections of atmospheric storage tanks in the most efficient way, while, at the same time, accident risks are minimized. The software has been built on the new risk framework architecture, a generic platform facilitating efficient and integrated development of software applications using risk models. The framework includes a library of risk models and the user interface is automatically produced on the basis of editable schemas. This risk-framework-based RBI tool has been applied in the context of RBI for above-ground atmospheric storage tanks (AST) but it has been designed with the objective of being generic enough to allow extension to the process plants in general. This RBI methodology is an evolution of an approach and mathematical models developed for Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and the American Petroleum Institute (API). The methodology assesses damage mechanism potential, degradation rates, probability of failure (PoF), consequence of failure (CoF) in terms of environmental damage and financial loss, risk and inspection intervals and techniques. The scope includes assessment of the tank floor for soil-side external corrosion and product-side internal corrosion and the tank shell courses for atmospheric corrosion and internal thinning. It also includes preliminary assessment for brittle fracture and cracking. The data are structured according to an asset hierarchy including Plant, Production Unit, Process Unit, Tag, Part and Inspection levels and the data are inherited / defaulted seamlessly from a higher hierarchy level to a lower level. The user interface includes synchronized hierarchy tree browsing, dynamic editor and grid-view editing and active reports with drill-in capability.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Li, Haiyan [Mechatronics Engineering School of Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Huang, Yunbao, E-mail: Huangyblhy@gmail.com [Mechatronics Engineering School of Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Jiang, Shaoen, E-mail: Jiangshn@vip.sina.com [Laser Fusion Research Center, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); Jing, Longfei, E-mail: scmyking_2008@163.com [Laser Fusion Research Center, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); Tianxuan, Huang; Ding, Yongkun [Laser Fusion Research Center, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China)
2015-11-15
Highlights: • A unified modeling approach for physical experiment design is presented. • Any laser facility can be flexibly defined and included with two scripts. • Complex targets and laser beams can be parametrically modeled for optimization. • Automatically mapping of laser beam energy facilitates targets shape optimization. - Abstract: Physical experiment design and optimization is very essential for laser driven inertial confinement fusion due to the high cost of each shot. However, only limited experiments with simple structure or shape on several laser facilities can be designed and evaluated in available codes, and targets are usually defined by programming, which may lead to it difficult for complex shape target design and optimization on arbitrary laser facilities. A unified modeling approach for physical experiment design and optimization on any laser facilities is presented in this paper. Its core idea includes: (1) any laser facility can be flexibly defined and included with two scripts, (2) complex shape targets and laser beams can be parametrically modeled based on features, (3) an automatically mapping scheme of laser beam energy onto discrete mesh elements of targets enable targets or laser beams be optimized without any additional interactive modeling or programming, and (4) significant computation algorithms are additionally presented to efficiently evaluate radiation symmetry on the target. Finally, examples are demonstrated to validate the significance of such unified modeling approach for physical experiments design and optimization in laser driven inertial confinement fusion.
Operation of an ITER relevant inspection robot on Tore Supra tokamak
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Gargiulo, Laurent [CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France)], E-mail: laurent.gargiulo@cea.fr; Bayetti, Pascal; Bruno, Vincent; Hatchressian, Jean-Claude; Hernandez, Caroline; Houry, Michael [CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France); Keller, Delphine [CEA, LIST, Service de Robotique Interactive, F-92265 Fontenay aux Roses (France); Martins, Jean-Pierre [CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France); Measson, Yvan; Perrot, Yann [CEA, LIST, Service de Robotique Interactive, F-92265 Fontenay aux Roses (France); Samaille, Frank [CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France)
2009-06-15
Robotic operations are one of the major maintenance challenges for ITER and future fusion reactors. CEA has developed a multipurpose carrier able to realize deployments in the plasma vessel without breaking the Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) and temperature conditioning. A 6 years R and D programme was jointly conducted by CEA-LIST Interactive Robotics Unit and the Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research (IRFM) in order to demonstrate the feasibility and reliability of an in-vessel inspection robot relevant to ITER requirements. The Articulated Inspection Arm robot (AIA) is an 8-m long multilink carrier with a payload up to 10 kg operable between plasma under tokamak conditioning environment; its geometry allows a complete close inspection of Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) of the Tore Supra vessel. Different tools are being developed by CEA to be plugged at the front head of the carrier. The diagnostic presently in operation consists in a viewing system offering accurate visual inspection of PFCs. Leak detection of first wall based on helium sniffing and laser compact system for carbon co-deposited layers characterizations or treatments are also considered for demonstration. In April 2008, the AIA robot equipped with its vision diagnostic has realized a complete deployment into Tore Supra and the first closed inspection of the vessel under UHV conditions. During the upcoming experimental campaign, the same operation will be performed under relevant conditions (10{sup -6} Pa and 120 deg. C) after a conditioning phase at 200 deg. C to avoid outgassing pollution of the chamber. This paper describes the different steps of the project development, robot capabilities with the present operations conducted on Tore Supra and future requirements for making the robot a tool for tokamak routine operation.
Automatic visual monitoring of welding procedure in stainless steel kegs
Leo, Marco; Del Coco, Marco; Carcagnì, Pierluigi; Spagnolo, Paolo; Mazzeo, Pier Luigi; Distante, Cosimo; Zecca, Raffaele
2018-05-01
In this paper a system for automatic visual monitoring of welding process, in dry stainless steel kegs for food storage, is proposed. In the considered manufacturing process the upper and lower skirts are welded to the vessel by means of Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding. During the process several problems can arise: 1) residuals on the bottom 2) darker weld 3) excessive/poor penetration and 4) outgrowths. The proposed system deals with all the four aforementioned problems and its inspection performances have been evaluated by using a large set of kegs demonstrating both the reliability in terms of defect detection and the suitability to be introduced in the manufacturing system in terms of computational costs.
Heyes, Cecilia
2011-01-01
"Automatic imitation" is a type of stimulus-response compatibility effect in which the topographical features of task-irrelevant action stimuli facilitate similar, and interfere with dissimilar, responses. This article reviews behavioral, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging research on automatic imitation, asking in what sense it is "automatic"…
Application of image recognition-based automatic hyphae detection in fungal keratitis.
Wu, Xuelian; Tao, Yuan; Qiu, Qingchen; Wu, Xinyi
2018-03-01
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of two methods in diagnosis of fungal keratitis, whereby one method is automatic hyphae detection based on images recognition and the other method is corneal smear. We evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the method in diagnosis of fungal keratitis, which is automatic hyphae detection based on image recognition. We analyze the consistency of clinical symptoms and the density of hyphae, and perform quantification using the method of automatic hyphae detection based on image recognition. In our study, 56 cases with fungal keratitis (just single eye) and 23 cases with bacterial keratitis were included. All cases underwent the routine inspection of slit lamp biomicroscopy, corneal smear examination, microorganism culture and the assessment of in vivo confocal microscopy images before starting medical treatment. Then, we recognize the hyphae images of in vivo confocal microscopy by using automatic hyphae detection based on image recognition to evaluate its sensitivity and specificity and compare with the method of corneal smear. The next step is to use the index of density to assess the severity of infection, and then find the correlation with the patients' clinical symptoms and evaluate consistency between them. The accuracy of this technology was superior to corneal smear examination (p hyphae detection of image recognition was 89.29%, and the specificity was 95.65%. The area under the ROC curve was 0.946. The correlation coefficient between the grading of the severity in the fungal keratitis by the automatic hyphae detection based on image recognition and the clinical grading is 0.87. The technology of automatic hyphae detection based on image recognition was with high sensitivity and specificity, able to identify fungal keratitis, which is better than the method of corneal smear examination. This technology has the advantages when compared with the conventional artificial identification of confocal
Microprocessor-controlled surface testing
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Droscha, H
1982-09-01
For the quality inspection on continuous flow material webs with transverse scanning laser beam, the microprocessor control, realized now for the first time in combination with appropriate units, shows a considerable progress. Thanks to the here used electronics, surface errors can be localized within the web according to their x-y-position, quantitative analysis can be carried out and automatic sorting and registration functions can be used.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lindblom, Lars; Clausen, Jonas; Edvardsson, Karin; Hayenhielm, Madeleine; Hermansson, Helene; Nihlen, Jessica; Palm, Elin; Ruden, Christina; Wikman, Per; Hansson, Sven Ove
2003-04-01
Eight Swedish authorities with inspection tasks in the areas of health, safety, and environmental protection have been compared, namely the authorities responsible for nuclear safety, radiation protection, railway, marine and aviation safety, environmental protection, chemicals control, and health and safety on workplaces. Significant differences in inspection policies and practices between the authorities were found, such as: diverging definitions of supervision and inspection that complicate comparisons, different priority-setting principles for inspections, variations in inspection frequencies (between 13 and 0.03 inspections per company and year), different practices with respect to notifying companies before inspection visits, and in particular, large differences in the extent to which non-compliance with regulations is reported to legal authorities. It was concluded that these agencies have much to gain from increasing their cooperation in methods development, evaluation studies, and education of inspectors
Antares automatic beam alignment system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Appert, Q.; Swann, T.; Sweatt, W.; Saxman, A.
1980-01-01
Antares is a 24-beam-line CO 2 laser system for controlled fusion research, under construction at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL). Rapid automatic alignment of this system is required prior to each experiment shot. The alignment requirements, operational constraints, and a developed prototype system are discussed. A visible-wavelength alignment technique is employed that uses a telescope/TV system to view point light sources appropriately located down the beamline. Auto-alignment is accomplished by means of a video centroid tracker, which determines the off-axis error of the point sources. The error is nulled by computer-driven, movable mirrors in a closed-loop system. The light sources are fiber-optic terminations located at key points in the optics path, primarily at the center of large copper mirrors, and remotely illuminated to reduce heating effects
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ogisu, Tatsuki; Taguchi, Kosei.
1995-01-01
The device of the present invention can inspect surfaces of equipments in reactor water in a nuclear reactor in a state of atmospheric air. Namely, an inspection device is movable forwardly and backwardly in a water-proof vessel. An annular sucker with pleats is disposed to the outer side of a lid of the water-proof vessel. A television camera for an under water monitoring is disposed to the inner side of the lid of the water-proof vessel by way of a partitioning wall with lid. Transferring screws are disposed at the back and on the side of the water-proof vessel. In the device having such a constitution, (1) the inside of the water-proof vessel is at first made water-tight by closing the partitioning wall with lid, (2) the back and the side screws are operated by the guide of the underwater monitoring television camera, to transfer the water-proof vessel to the surface of the reactor core to be inspected, (3) the annular sucker with pleats is urged on the surface to be inspected by the back screw, to fix the water-proof vessel, (4) reactor water in a space of the annular sucker with pleats is discharged and replaced with air, and (5) the lid of the partition wall with lid is opened and the inspection device is disposed at a position of the underwater monitoring television camera, to inspect the surface to be inspected in a state of atmospheric air. (I.S.)
Pressurized water reactor inspection procedures
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Heinrich, D.; Mueller, G.; Otte, H.J.; Roth, W.
1998-01-01
Inspections of the reactor pressure vessels of pressurized water reactors (PWR) so far used to be carried out with different central mast manipulators. For technical reasons, parallel inspections of two manipulators alongside work on the refueling cavity, so as to reduce the time spent on the critical path in a revision outage, are not possible. Efforts made to minimize the inspection time required with one manipulator have been successful, but their effects are limited. Major reductions in inspection time can be achieved only if inspections are run with two manipulators in parallel. The decentralized manipulator built by GEC Alsthom Energie and so far emmployed in boiling water reactors in the USA, Spain, Switzerland and Japan allows two systems to be used in parallel, thus reducing the time required for standard inspection of a pressure vessel from some six days to three days. These savings of approximately three days are made possible without any compromises in terms of positioning by rail-bound systems. During inspection, the reactor refueling cavity is available for other revision work without any restrictions. The manipulator can be used equally well for inspecting standard PWR, PWR with a thermal shield, for inspecting the land between in-core instrumentation nozzles, BWR with and without jet pumps (complementary inspection), and for inspecting core support shrouds. (orig.) [de
Free-space QKD system hacking by wavelength control using an external laser.
Lee, Min Soo; Woo, Min Ki; Jung, Jisung; Kim, Yong-Su; Han, Sang-Wook; Moon, Sung
2017-05-15
We develop a way to hack free-space quantum key distribution (QKD) systems by changing the wavelength of the quantum signal laser using an external laser. Most free-space QKD systems use four distinct lasers for each polarization, thereby making the characteristics of each laser indistinguishable. We also discover a side-channel that can distinguish the lasers by using an external laser. Our hacking scheme identifies the lasers by automatically applying the external laser to each signal laser at different intensities and detecting the wavelength variation according to the amount of incident external laser power. We conduct a proof-of-principle experiment to verify the proposed hacking structure and confirm that the wavelength varies by several gigahertzes to several nanometers, depending on the intensity of the external laser. The risk of hacking is successfully proven through the experimental results. Methods for prevention are also suggested.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ratajczak Michał
2015-12-01
Full Text Available Rapid development of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS in recent years resulted in its recognition and implementation in many industries, including forestry and nature conservation. The use of the 3D TLS point clouds in the process of inventory of trees and stands, as well as in the determination of their biometric features (trunk diameter, tree height, crown base, number of trunk shapes, trees and lumber size (volume of trees is slowly becoming a practice. In addition to the measurement precision, the primary added value of TLS is the ability to automate the processing of the clouds of points 3D in the direction of the extraction of selected features of trees and stands. The paper presents the original software (GNOM for the automatic measurement of selected features of trees, based on the cloud of points obtained by the ground laser scanner FARO. With the developed algorithms (GNOM, the location of tree trunks on the circular research surface was specified and the measurement was performed; the measurement covered the DBH (l: 1.3m, further diameters of tree trunks at different heights of the tree trunk, base of the tree crown and volume of the tree trunk (the selection measurement method, as well as the tree crown. Research works were performed in the territory of the Niepolomice Forest in an unmixed pine stand (PinussylvestrisL. on the circular surface with a radius of 18 m, within which there were 16pine trees (14 of them were cut down. It was characterized by a two-storey and even-aged construction (147 years old and was devoid of undergrowth. Ground scanning was performed just before harvesting. The DBH of 16 pine trees was specified in a fully automatic way, using the algorithm GNOM with an accuracy of +2.1%, as compared to the reference measurement by the DBH measurement device. The medium, absolute measurement error in the cloud of points - using semi-automatic methods "PIXEL" (between points and PIPE (fitting the cylinder in the FARO
Beam uniformity of flat top lasers
Chang, Chao; Cramer, Larry; Danielson, Don; Norby, James
2015-03-01
Many beams that output from standard commercial lasers are multi-mode, with each mode having a different shape and width. They show an overall non-homogeneous energy distribution across the spot size. There may be satellite structures, halos and other deviations from beam uniformity. However, many scientific, industrial and medical applications require flat top spatial energy distribution, high uniformity in the plateau region, and complete absence of hot spots. Reliable standard methods for the evaluation of beam quality are of great importance. Standard methods are required for correct characterization of the laser for its intended application and for tight quality control in laser manufacturing. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standard procedures and definitions for this purpose. These procedures have not been widely adopted by commercial laser manufacturers. This is due to the fact that they are unreliable because an unrepresentative single-pixel value can seriously distort the result. We hereby propose a metric of beam uniformity, a way of beam profile visualization, procedures to automatically detect hot spots and beam structures, and application examples in our high energy laser production.
Frese, Erich A.; Chiragh, Furqan L.; Switzer, Robert; Vasilyev, Aleksey A.; Thomes, Joe; Coyle, D. Barry; Stysley, Paul R.
2018-01-01
Flight quality solid-state lasers require a unique and extensive set of testing and qualification processes, both at the system and component levels to insure the laser's promised performance. As important as the overall laser transmitter design is, the quality and performance of individual subassemblies, optics, and electro-optics dictate the final laser unit's quality. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) laser transmitters employ all the usual components typical for a diode-pumped, solid-state laser, yet must each go through their own individual process of specification, modeling, performance demonstration, inspection, and destructive testing. These qualification processes and results for the laser crystals, laser diode arrays, electro-optics, and optics, will be reviewed as well as the relevant critical issues encountered, prior to their installation in the GEDI flight laser units.
5th International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Automatic Control
Yao, Yufeng
2016-01-01
On the basis of instrument electrical and automatic control system, the 5th International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Automatic Control (CEEAC) was established at the crossroads of information technology and control technology, and seeks to effectively apply information technology to a sweeping trend that views control as the core of intelligent manufacturing and life. This book takes a look forward into advanced manufacturing development, an area shaped by intelligent manufacturing. It highlights the application and promotion of process control represented by traditional industries, such as the steel industry and petrochemical industry; the technical equipment and system cooperative control represented by robot technology and multi-axis CNC; and the control and support of emerging process technologies represented by laser melting and stacking, as well as the emerging industry represented by sustainable and intelligent life. The book places particular emphasis on the micro-segments field, such as...
Comparison of manual and automatic MR-CT registration for radiotherapy of prostate cancer.
Korsager, Anne Sofie; Carl, Jesper; Riis Østergaard, Lasse
2016-05-08
In image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) of prostate cancer, delineation of the clini-cal target volume (CTV) often relies on magnetic resonance (MR) because of its good soft-tissue visualization. Registration of MR and computed tomography (CT) is required in order to add this accurate delineation to the dose planning CT. An automatic approach for local MR-CT registration of the prostate has previously been developed using a voxel property-based registration as an alternative to a manual landmark-based registration. The aim of this study is to compare the two registration approaches and to investigate the clinical potential for replacing the manual registration with the automatic registration. Registrations and analysis were performed for 30 prostate cancer patients treated with IGRT using a Ni-Ti prostate stent as a fiducial marker. The comparison included computing translational and rotational differences between the approaches, visual inspection, and computing the overlap of the CTV. The computed mean translational difference was 1.65, 1.60, and 1.80mm and the computed mean rotational difference was 1.51°, 3.93°, and 2.09° in the superior/inferior, anterior/posterior, and medial/lateral direction, respectively. The sensitivity of overlap was 87%. The results demonstrate that the automatic registration approach performs registrations comparable to the manual registration.
From PISC to risk informed inspection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Crutzen, S.; Lemaitre, P.; Fabbri, L.
1998-01-01
In this paper the correlation between inspection effectiveness, inspection qualification and risk informed inspection will be treated in view of harmonisation of inspection of nuclear plant components. Through the different phases of the PISC programme the necessity has been demonstrated to show the effectiveness of the inspection through a formal process of qualification in order to ensure that a certain level of effectiveness has been reached. Inspection qualification is indeed the way to quantify the capability level of inspection techniques used. The targets to be met by the inspection is information which should be obtained from risk based analyses. (author)
MIV TOOL: A RENDEZ-VOUS SIMULATOR FOR MANOEUVRING OF AN INSPECTION VEHICLE IN GEO
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ravazzotti, Maria Teresa; Neefs, Marc; Jørgensen, John Leif
1996-01-01
In the frame of the studies ESA is currently conducting on the servicing of non-cooperative spacecraft in geostationary orbits, a simulator is being set up to support the analysis and development of safe techniques for Manoeuvring, during approach and circumflight, an Inspection Vehicle (MIV tool......), including on-board and teleoperated control. The main aspects of the study include the design of the automatic and teleoperated GNC, with allocation of tasks to the space and ground segment and to the Human Operator (HO), the Man Machine Interface (MMI), a sophisticated model of the on-board CCD camera...