7161 MUPSIS: Mobile utility pole smart inspection system

Inspection of wooden utility poles is still performed manually today, with people travelling many kilometers per year, to check few thousands of wooden poles using techniques like hammering, drilling holes or 3D surface scanning. Those efforts are time-consuming and also require experienced personnel for a successful inspection. We aim for a convenient inspection method, involving a mobile platform and AI software that enables robust remote inspection, by handheld deployment or from an installed device on a drone. This project aims to develop a mobile sensor solution for remote inspection of wooden utility pole infrastructures. There are millions of wooden utility poles in Scandinavia and Baltic countries, that are typically inspected on-site for detecting damaged ones (e.g., rotten, damaged by woodpeckers/termites) for planning replacement before failure. By integrating an innovative radar sensor with 3D vision, IoT module, software for online processing and visualization, we aim to establish combined surface and subsurface scanning remotely to estimate heath index of wooden poles. This solution can be deployed in the field or in factor for wood inspection and commercialized to energy infrastructure owners and operators.

Inspection of wooden utility poles is still performed manually today, with people travelling many kilometers per year, to check few thousands of wooden poles using techniques like hammering, drilling holes or 3D surface scanning. Those efforts are time-consuming and also require experienced personnel for a successful inspection. We aim for a convenient inspection method, involving a mobile platform and AI software that enables robust remote inspection, by handheld deployment or from an installed device on a drone. This project aims to develop a mobile sensor solution for remote inspection of wooden utility pole infrastructures. There are millions of wooden utility poles in Scandinavia and Baltic countries, that are typically inspected on-site for detecting damaged ones (e.g., rotten, damaged by woodpeckers/termites) for planning replacement before failure. By integrating an innovative radar sensor with 3D vision, IoT module, software for online processing and visualization, we aim to establish combined surface and subsurface scanning remotely to estimate heath index of wooden poles. This solution can be deployed in the field or in factor for wood inspection and commercialized to energy infrastructure owners and operators.