Applications
Security

Infrastructure Facility Inspection

Overview

Infrastructure facility inspection is often supported with visual checks by workers. These inspections require an enormous amount of time and skill but it is increasingly difficult to secure the required personnel and, as facilities age, the number of inspections is only increasing. The trend is now to apply a variety of technologies in an effort to streamline inspection and improve precision.

Currently, infrastructure inspection that uses image, audio, and vibration data obtained by various sensors is drawing attention. In the area of social infrastructure, technology can be used in the image inspection of large structures such as tunnels and bridges to capture tiny defects more clearly than with the naked eye and to detect abnormal sounds that the human ear cannot hear, achieving higher precision in predictive maintenance.

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (SSS) has a lineup of image sensors combining multiple features to meet various needs. In addition, SSS contributes to these fields by providing advanced OLED Microdisplays for maintenance inspections using drones and digital binoculars.

Applications

Inspection of high-voltage power cables for electric discharge

When electric power infrastructure suffers age-related degradation, the damaged parts of power cables may discharge electricity, which can then release ultraviolet (UV) radiation. With this in mind, many anticipate that UV image sensors can be used to inspect high-voltage power cables for electric discharge. Using UV cameras makes it easier to identify deteriorated parts in a power system, contributing to the automation and streamlining of facility maintenance.

Inspection of high voltage power cables for electric discharge

Infrastructure facility inspection using drones

Conventionally, the inspection of infrastructure facilities at height involves constructing scaffolding and requiring personnel to perform a visual inspection. With drones, however, these inspection costs and safety risks can be reduced significantly and it is possible to perform high-precision inspection through multifaceted imaging, which also overcomes any human blind spots. It is likely that global shutter image sensors will be used in such applications as they are compact, offer high resolution, and are well suited to capturing images at high speed.

OLED Microdisplays also make it possible to confirm a drone’s field of view in real time, and they are used in head-mounted displays for fast-response, high-precision operation.

Our low power GNSS receiver provides accurate input to the control loop of a drone or other autonomous vehicles, allowing it to maintain position or follow a series of preset locations.

Infrastructure facility inspection using drones

Railroad monitoring

SPAD ToF depth sensors also have great potential in the field of smart infrastructure. For example, they are expected to play a crucial role in railway monitoring.
Station platforms and railway tracks are prone to the influence of outdoor light and a lot of noise. In such an environment, long-range monitoring is required. SPAD ToF depth sensors, which detect even faint light with high accuracy, are resistant to the influence of outside light such as outdoor sunlight. They are also capable of long-range measurement, which make them useful for checking and monitoring for any person or object on the track, or an umbrella or a bag getting in the way when railcar doors open and close.

Railroad monitoring

Infrastructure facility inspection with digital binoculars

Visual observation using digital binoculars is also effective in the inspection of infrastructure facilities for transmission line towers. Among EVFs (electrical viewfinders) like these, SSS’s high-resolution OLED Microdisplays are ideal because they make it possible to detect the details in high contrast.

Infrastructure facility inspection with digital binoculars1
Infrastructure facility inspection with digital binoculars2

Equipment abnormality monitoring

The deterioration of plant facilities and buildings is a common social issue in developed countries. When mechanical failures occur in equipment or when cracks form due to friction or temporal degradation, there are signs in the form of sound vibrations. In the past, experienced engineers would predict these signs of failure, but as facilities become fully automated and equipment more complex, it has become difficult to conduct. To address this problem, SPRESENSE™ . board computer for IoT ensures that these failures will not be missed, having extensive calculation capabilities using high-speed A/D conversion of ultrasonic frequencies. SPESENSE™ also has the option to add a self-diagnostic function, which helps improve safety and productivity in automated plants with increasing complexity.

Tower monitoring

Today, towers are being constructed around the world for power, communications, aircraft transport, and various other applications. As these towers are at high risk for abnormalities and defects, there is a need for measures that can pick up signs of abnormalities early through AI processing of image, audio, and other data obtained from constantly operating sensors.

SPRESENSE™, board computer for IoT enables predictive monitoring for towers by constant usage under low power consumption, collecting data such as noise with the option to add image sensors with ultrasonic frequency, to perform advanced computational audio and image processing using its multi-core processors.

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