System and method for inspection of a sewer network

Abstract

A system for inspection of a sewer network. The system comprises: a cleaning nozzle mounted on a hose; an inspection sled having a camera mounted thereon and a nozzle mounting section selectively engageable to the cleaning nozzle; and a position encoder configured to acquire position data representative of the position of the camera inside the conduit while the sled is moved inside the conduit by the movement of the cleaning nozzle and the camera captures images of the inner wall of the conduit. A method for inspection of a sewer network using the system is also provided.

1 . A system for inspection of a sewer network, the system comprising:
 a cleaning nozzle mounted on a hose;
 an inspection sled having a camera mounted thereon and a nozzle mounting section selectively engageable to the cleaning nozzle; and 
 a position encoder configured to acquire position data representative of the position of the camera inside the conduit while the sled is moved inside the conduit by the movement of the cleaning nozzle and the camera captures images of the inner wall of the conduit. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the position encoder is configured to determine the position of the camera inside the conduit through measuring of the movement of the hose as the nozzle is moved inside the conduit, the hose being extended and retracted correspondingly in accordance with the movement of the nozzle inside the conduit. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the position encoder is mounted on a cleaning vehicle, the hose being connected to the cleaning vehicle and being selectively extended from the cleaning vehicle and winded back towards the cleaning vehicle in accordance with the forward and rearward movement of the nozzle inside the conduit, the movement of the hose being representative of the movement of the inspection sled inside the conduit, when the inspection sled is engaged to the cleaning nozzle. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the position encoder is mounted on the inspection sled, the position encoder being configured to determine the position of the camera inside the conduit through measuring of a rotative movement of a rotative member of a displacement assembly rotating along with the movement of the sled inside the conduit induced by the movement of the cleaning nozzle. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the nozzle mounting section includes an electromagnet activable to engage the cleaning nozzle to the nozzle mounting section of the sled. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the nozzle mounting section includes a guiding funnel projecting at a front end of the nozzle mounting section, the guiding funnel being centered on the electromagnet. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sled includes a sled body and the nozzle mounting section includes an engagement body pivotally mounted to the sled body, using a hinge allowing pivoting of the engagement body with regard the sled body. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the inspection sled further comprises lights configured to provide lighting of a at least a portion of a field of view of the camera. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the camera and the position encoder are configured to generate time stamps, the corresponding time stamps associated to positions determined using the position encoder and to images captured by the camera being used to associate images to corresponding positions inside the conduit. 
     
     
         10 . A method for inspection of a sewer network, the method comprising the steps of:
 moving a cleaning nozzle in a conduit to be inspected, the cleaning nozzle being mounted to a hose, at an end thereof;   inserting a sled having inspection material mounted thereon in the conduit, the inspection material including a camera;   engaging the cleaning nozzle with the sled;   moving the guiding nozzle in the conduit and correspondingly moving the engaged sled in the conduit; and   simultaneously to the sled being moved in the conduit by the movement of the guiding nozzle:
 capturing images of the inner wall of the conduit using the camera mounted on the sled; and 
 acquiring position data through monitoring of the movement of the sled using a position encoder; and 
   determining a capture position for at least a subset of the images of the inner walls of the conduit captured by the camera, using the position data.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the steps of inserting the cleaning nozzle in the conduit through a first manhole and inserting the inspection sled in the conduit via a second manhole. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of acquiring position data through monitoring of the movement sled using a position encoder comprises monitoring the movement of the hose. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of inserting the sled in the conduit comprises the sub steps of:
 engaging the sled to a guiding pole;   lowering the sled in the conduit using the guiding pole; and   disengaging the guiding pole from the sled.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the sub step of engaging the sled to a guiding pole includes activating a pole engaging electromagnet and the sub step of disengaging the guiding pole from the sled includes deactivating the pole engaging electromagnet. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of engaging the cleaning nozzle to the sled includes activating a nozzle electromagnet. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the step of engaging the cleaning nozzle to the sled includes advancing the nozzle towards the sled and guiding the nozzle using a funnel. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the step of removing the sled from the conduit, via the first manhole. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising the steps of:
 simultaneously to the sled being moved in the first manhole:
 capturing images of the inner wall of the first manhole using the camera mounted on the sled; and 
 acquiring position data through monitoring of the movement of the sled using the position encoder; and 
   determining a capture position for at least a subset of the images of the inner walls of the first manhole captured by the camera, using the position data.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the initial step of circulating the cleaning nozzle in the conduit in order to perform cleaning of the conduit. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising generating time stamps for the captured images of the inner wall of the conduit using the camera and the positions of the position data generated through monitoring of the movement of the sled using the position encoder, and wherein the step of determining a capture position for at least a subset of the images of the inner walls of the conduit captured by the camera comprises using the time stamps to associate images to corresponding capture positions inside the conduit.