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SPAMMS: A Sensor-based Pipeline Autonomous Monitoring and Maintenance System

Jong-Hoon Kim‡, Gokarna Sharma‡, Noureddine Boudriga§, and S. Sitharama Iyengar‡ ‡Department of Computer Science Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA Email: jkim24@lsu.edu, {gokarna, iyengar}@csc.lsu.edu§ CN & S Research Lab, School of Communication Engineering University of Carthage, 2083 Ariana, Tunisia Email: nab@supcom.rnu.tn

 

Abstract—Pipeline-based applications have become the indispensable part of life. Active monitoring and frequent inspections are critical to maintaining pipeline health. However, these tasks are highly expensive using the traditional maintenance systems, knowing that the pipeline systems can be largely deployed in an inaccessible and hazardous environment. In this paper, we propose a novel cost effective, scalable, customizable, and autonomous sensor-based system, called SPAMMS. It combines robot agent based technologies with sensing technologies for efficientlylocatinghealthrelatedeventsandallowsactiveandcorrective monitoring and maintenance of the pipelines. SPAMMS integrates RFID systems with mobile sensors and autonomous robots. While the mobile sensor motion is based on the fluid transported by the pipeline, the fixed sensors provide event and mobile sensor location information and contribute efficiently to the study of health history of the pipeline. In addition, it permits a good tracking of the mobile sensors. Using the output of event analysis,arobotagentgetscommandfromthecontrollingsystem, travels inside the pipelines for detailed inspection and repairing of the reported incidents (e.g., damage, leakage, or corrosion). The key innovations of SPAMMS are 3-fold: (a) the system can apply to a large variety of pipeline systems; (b) the solution provided is cost effective since it uses low cost powerless fixed sensors that can be setup while the pipeline system is operating; (c) the robot is autonomous and the localization technique allows controllable errors. The simulation experiments described in this paperalongwithprototypingactivitiesdemonstratethefeasibility of SPAMMS