Mobile monitoring for distributed infrastructures

Efficient maintenance of distributed infrastructures requires accurate and up-to-date information to ensure reliable service. Existing monitoring techniques commonly rely on either data collected at scattered points or on costly manual inspection of suspect components by service personnel. Implementation of mobile robots for continuous autonomous monitoring of these infrastructures can provide a cost-effective means of gaining accurate information for maintenance planning. This paper offers a discussion on key system-level issues that must be addressed in any mobile monitoring project. These issues include: (a) economic analysis of incorporating mobile robotics into existing maintenance strategies, (b) the ability of the autonomous robot to negotiate diverse and unstructured environment, and (c) the feasibility of integrating needed sensors into a robotic platform. The example application examined in this paper is an autonomous robotic platform that monitors underground power cables for incipient failures.