JP7616001B2 - Water-submerged inspection device, method and program for controlling water-submerged inspection device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a water-submersion inspection device, a control method for the water-submersion inspection device, and a program.

A variety of equipment is installed in power distribution systems. For example, air switchgears (e.g. high-voltage air switchgears) are installed to connect or disconnect power distribution lines in the air in order to switch the power supply route from the substation to each consumer or to cut off power in construction areas.

Air contactors house electrical components such as live parts inside a metal housing, but if rainwater or other liquids get inside the housing, there is a risk that the live parts will short-circuit.

For this reason, a device has been developed to check for water ingress inside the housing of an air switch (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

The device described in Patent Document 1 has the exposed surface of the heater and temperature sensor in contact with the bottom surface of the housing of the air switch, and when the bottom surface of the housing is heated by the heater, the temperature sensor detects the temperature of the bottom surface, and uses the principle of thermal conductivity to determine whether water has entered the inside of the housing from the temperature detection result.

JP 2011-89807 A

However, in order to attach such a device to the bottom of the housing of the air switch, a high-altitude work vehicle must be used.

As a result, a device has been developed that uses a laser to irradiate the air switch from the ground to raise the temperature of the casing without contact, and also measures the temperature of the casing without contact from the ground, allowing the air switch to be inspected for water ingress.

In this case, however, it is necessary to accurately aim the laser irradiator at the bottom surface of the air switch before emitting the laser, but in order to correctly aim the laser irradiator at the air switch, manual alignment of various devices is required, and there is a demand for reducing the workload.

The present invention has been made in light of this background, and aims to provide a water ingress inspection device, a control method for the water ingress inspection device, and a program that can reduce the workload when pointing a laser irradiator at an air switch installed on a pole.

One of the means for solving the above problem is a water ingress inspection device for inspecting water ingress of an air-emerged switch installed on a pole, comprising a laser output unit for outputting a laser, an image capturing unit for capturing an image of the outside world along the direction of the laser output unit, an irradiation direction control unit for controlling the direction of the laser output unit so that the laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface of the housing of the air-emerged switch by analyzing the image captured by the image capturing unit, a temperature measurement unit for measuring the temperature of the bottom surface which rises with the irradiation of the laser, and an inspection execution unit for inspecting water ingress of the air-emerged switch based on the measurement results of the temperature of the bottom surface, and the irradiation direction control unit is configured to control the direction of the laser output unit by analyzing the image captured by the image capturing unit. The device includes a learning model storage unit that stores a learning model created using image data to identify the bottom surface of the housing of the air switch that is captured in the image, a bottom surface identification unit that identifies the bottom surface of the housing of the air switch that is captured in the image by inputting image data of the air switch that is newly captured by the image capture unit into the learning model, an irradiation direction calculation unit that calculates the difference between the current orientation of the laser output unit and the orientation of the laser output unit that irradiates the laser onto the bottom surface of the air switch based on the position of the bottom surface in the image, and a direction adjustment unit that adjusts the orientation of the laser output unit based on the difference.

Other problems and solutions disclosed in this application will be made clear in the detailed description of the invention and the drawings.

The present invention makes it possible to reduce the workload involved in pointing a laser irradiator at an air switch installed on a pole.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a submersion inspection device is used to inspect an air switch for submersion. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a laser irradiator. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an inspection device. FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a learning model. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on a display of an infrared thermograph. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on a display of an infrared thermograph. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state of temperature change when a laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface of an air contactor. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a water immersion inspection device. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an image of an air contact switch. 13 is a flowchart showing the process flow when generating a learning model. 13 is a flowchart showing a process flow of the water immersion inspection device. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying the inspection results of a water immersion inspection.

At least the following points become clear from the description in this specification and the accompanying drawings. The present invention will be described below in accordance with one embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings.

===Water Intrusion Inspection for Air Switches===
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a water submersion inspection device 500 according to this embodiment is used to inspect an air contactor 100 for water submersion.

The air switch 100 is an electric power device that connects or disconnects the distribution line 210 in the air in order to change the flow of electricity in the distribution line 210 or to construct a blackout section for construction work, and is installed at a high position on the utility pole 200 (e.g., about 10 m above ground). The air switch 100 is, for example, a high-voltage air switch that is installed so as to be able to connect or disconnect the position of the demarcation point of responsibility between the electric power company and the consumer on the distribution line 210.

The air switch 100 also has a charging unit 110 for connecting or disconnecting the upstream (substation) power distribution line 210 and the downstream (customer) power distribution line 210. This charging unit 110 is housed in a sealed state inside the housing 120 that constitutes the air switch 100 so that it does not deteriorate due to external factors (wind, rain, moisture, ultraviolet rays, etc.).

However, the gasket (not shown) used to ensure airtightness inside the housing 120 deteriorates over time due to various factors. If the deterioration of the gasket progresses beyond a certain level, the airtightness of the housing 120 can no longer be ensured, and rain, moisture, etc. will penetrate into the inside of the housing 120.

If water accumulates at the bottom of the housing 120, it may cause a short circuit in the charging unit 110 housed in the housing 120. For this reason, regular inspections of the air contactor 100 are carried out.

The water ingress inspection device 500 is a device that includes an information processing device such as a computer that is used when inspecting the air switch 100 for water ingress, and is configured by connecting the laser irradiator 300 and the inspection device 400 so that they can communicate with each other.

The laser irradiator 300 is installed so that the laser emitted from the emission port 330 is irradiated onto the outer bottom surface 130 of the housing 120, and the laser increases the temperature of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 in a non-contact manner.

Figure 7 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the irradiation time (horizontal axis) and the temperature of the bottom surface 130 (vertical axis) when a laser is irradiated to the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 at 20 W, both when the inside of the housing 120 is not flooded and when a certain amount of water is flooded. In Figure 7, the solid line shows the case when the inside of the housing 120 is not flooded, and the dashed line shows the case when the inside of the housing 120 is flooded to a certain amount. Note that such characteristic diagrams will vary depending on the type of air contactor 100, the outside temperature, the laser irradiation distance, etc., so the characteristic diagram shown in Figure 7 is just one example.

In the example shown in FIG. 7, a level with an output value of 20 W is applied to the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 that is not submerged in water.

When irradiation with the laser begins, the temperature at the irradiation position on the bottom surface 130 begins to rise gradually, reaching 158°C after one minute. On the other hand, when a 20 W laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface 130 of a housing 120 that is submerged in water to a certain extent, the temperature at the irradiation position on the bottom surface 130 gradually rises along a temperature curve that is lower than the temperature of the bottom surface 130 of a housing 120 that is not submerged in water, reaching 82°C after one minute.

Returning to FIG. 1, the laser irradiator 300 is mounted on a leg 340. The leg 340 has a tripod 341, a first tripod stand 342, and a second tripod stand 343.

The tripod 341 is installed at a specified position, such as on the ground or on a vehicle, when performing a water ingress inspection of the air contactor 100.

The first tripod base 342 is attached to the tripod 341 so as to be rotatable around a first rotation axis in the vertical direction. The first tripod base 342 is driven by a driving device such as a first step motor (not shown) to rotate around the first rotation axis.

The second tripod 343 is attached to the first tripod 342 so as to be rotatable around a second horizontal rotation axis, and carries the laser irradiator 300. The second tripod 343 is driven by a drive device such as a second step motor (not shown) to rotate around the second rotation axis.

Note that Figure 1 shows an example in which the first and second rotation axes are in a twisted position relationship and do not intersect, but it is preferable for the first and second rotation axes to be in a position relationship in which they have an intersection, as this makes it easier to calculate the direction of the laser light.

The laser irradiator 300 is also equipped with a camera 350, an acceleration sensor 351, and an inclination sensor 352.

The camera 350 is attached to the laser irradiator 300 so as to capture the outside world along the direction of the laser irradiator 300. For example, in this embodiment, the camera 350 is attached to the laser irradiator 300 so that the direction of the camera 350 is parallel to the direction of the laser output from the laser irradiator 300.

This makes it possible for the laser irradiator 300 to irradiate a laser onto an object that appears in the center of the field of view of an image captured by the camera 350. In other words, the first tripod 342 and the second tripod 343 are rotated so that the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air switch 100 appears in the center of the image captured by the camera 350, and then a laser is output from the laser irradiator 300, thereby irradiating the laser onto the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120.

It is preferable that the camera 350 is configured integrally with the laser irradiator 300. In this manner, the orientation of the camera 350 does not deviate from the orientation of the laser irradiator 300, making it possible to eliminate the need to align the optical axes of the camera 350 and the laser irradiator 300.

The camera 350 may be configured to capture still images or moving images. Furthermore, the camera 350 may be configured to detect light of multiple wavelengths to capture a multicolor image, or to detect light of one wavelength to capture a monochromatic image. The camera 350 may also be configured to detect visible light, or to detect light other than visible light, such as infrared light or ultraviolet light.

The image data obtained by the camera 350 capturing the outside world is sent to the inspection device 400. The inspection device 400 then performs image analysis to identify the position of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 in the image and calculates the adjustment amount (difference) of the direction of the laser irradiator 300. Details will be described later.

The acceleration sensor 351 detects the acceleration occurring in the laser irradiator 300. This makes it possible to detect when the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 shifts, for example, when a worker collides with the laser irradiator 300. In addition, the acceleration sensor 351 can detect the direction of gravity, so it can also be used to detect the orientation of the laser irradiator 300.

The tilt sensor 352 has an internal pendulum and float, and detects the tilt angle of the laser illuminator 300 and vibrations generated in the laser illuminator 300. This makes it possible to detect when the orientation of the laser illuminator 300 shifts, for example, when an operator collides with the laser illuminator 300. The tilt sensor 352 can also detect the direction of gravity, and can therefore also be used to detect the orientation of the laser illuminator 300.

The inspection device 400 controls the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 so that the laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contact switch 100, and then causes the laser irradiator 300 to output a laser. The inspection device 400 then non-contact measures the temperature of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120, which rises as the laser is irradiated, and inspects the air contact switch 100 for water ingress based on the measurement result of the temperature of the bottom surface 130.

As described above, the inspection device 400 analyzes the image captured by the camera 350 and identifies the position of the bottom surface 130 of the air switch 100 shown in the image, thereby calculating the difference between the irradiation direction in which the laser irradiator 300 should be pointed (the direction in which the laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120) and the current direction. Then, based on this difference, the direction of the laser irradiator 300 is adjusted by rotating the first tripod 342 and the second tripod 343 described above.

The inspection device 400 also detects infrared radiation energy emitted from the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 using an infrared thermograph 410, thereby measuring the temperature of the bottom surface 130 in a non-contact manner.

The inspection device 400 then inspects the air contactor 100 for water ingress based on the temperature measurement results of the bottom surface 130 a predetermined time after the start of laser irradiation. For example, the inspection device 400 determines that water ingress has occurred in the air contactor 100 if the temperature of the bottom surface 130 60 seconds after the start of laser irradiation is equal to or lower than a predetermined judgment value.

This aspect makes it possible to reduce the workload when aiming the laser irradiator 300 at the air contactor 100 installed on a pole. It also makes it possible to more efficiently perform water ingress inspections of the air contactor 100 installed on a pole.

The water ingress inspection device 500 according to this embodiment also detects the temperature of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 in a non-contact manner when a laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface 130, and inspects whether the inside of the housing 120 is flooded or not.

Therefore, the worker does not need to climb up to the high place where the air contactor 100 is installed to inspect whether the inside of the housing 120 is flooded, and the inspection work can be performed safely and efficiently.

Details are explained below.

===Water immersion inspection device===
<Laser irradiator>

Figure 2 shows an example of the configuration of the laser irradiator 300 used in the water immersion inspection device 500 according to this embodiment.

In FIG. 2, the laser irradiator 300 outputs a fiber laser having a near-infrared wavelength (e.g., 1064 nm) as a laser to be irradiated onto the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air switch 100.

The laser irradiator 300 is configured to emit a fiber laser and includes an excitation section 310, a resonator section 320, and an emission port 330.

The excitation section 310 is composed of a plurality of semiconductor lasers 311 for excitation, an excitation combiner 313 through which the lasers (having a wavelength of approximately 0.9 μm) output from the plurality of semiconductor lasers 311 are propagated via optical fibers 312, and an optical fiber 314 through which the plurality of lasers propagated to the excitation combiner 313 are output in a combined state as a single excitation light.

The resonator unit 320 amplifies the excitation light output from the optical fiber 314 of the excitation unit 310 and outputs it as a fiber laser. The resonator unit 320 is configured to include a high reflectance mirror 321, an amplification fiber 322, and a low reflectance mirror 323 as a means for amplifying and outputting the excitation light as a fiber laser. Here, a fiber laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses an optical fiber as an amplification medium. The amplification fiber 322 has a core doped with the rare earth element Yb (ytterbium) so that the refractive index at the center of the optical fiber is the highest. The excitation light output from the excitation unit 310 is amplified by the high reflectance mirror 321, then excites the Yb doped in the core in the amplification fiber 322, is further amplified by the low reflectance mirror 323, and is oscillated and output as a fiber laser.

Since the fiber laser is propagated through the amplification fiber 322, it has the advantage of being highly efficient in energy conversion and capable of being designed with a long focal length. Therefore, in this embodiment, taking into consideration that the irradiation distance to the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air switch 100 is approximately 10 m, the fiber laser is irradiated from the laser irradiator 300 to the bottom surface 130.

The laser irradiator 300 is mounted on the leg 340.

The leg 340 is a structure that can be adjusted so that the emission port 330 faces the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120.

The laser irradiator 300 is supported by legs 340, and the inspection device 400 controls the first step motor and second step motor (not shown) described above to adjust the orientation of the first tripod 342 and the second tripod 343, so that the emission port 330 can be directed toward the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120.

This allows the fiber laser to be reliably irradiated onto the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 through the emission port 330. Note that the legs 340 are one example of a structure for supporting the laser irradiator 300, and other structures may be used as long as the structure is adjustable so that the emission port 330 faces the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120.

In addition, when the laser irradiator 300 is installed on the road surface, there is a risk that an operator may accidentally touch the laser irradiator 300, causing it to fall over or change direction. In this case, it is necessary to prevent the fiber laser from being irradiated onto the human body. Therefore, the laser irradiator 300 may further be equipped with an acceleration sensor 351 and a tilt sensor 352, so that if these sensors detect movement of the laser irradiator 300 while the fiber laser is being irradiated onto the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120, the operation of emitting the fiber laser by the laser irradiator 300 may be stopped.

<Inspection equipment>
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of an inspection device 400 used in the water immersion inspection device 500 according to this embodiment.

The inspection device 400 includes an infrared thermograph 410, an input device 420, a CPU 430, a storage device 440, a timer 450, and an output device 460.

The CPU 430 is responsible for the overall control of the water-immersion inspection device 500, and realizes the various functions of the water-immersion inspection device 500 by executing or processing the water-immersion inspection device control program 700, which is composed of code for performing various operations related to this embodiment stored in the memory device 440, and various data.

For example, the CPU 430 executes or processes the water immersion inspection device control program 700 and various data, and by cooperating with hardware devices such as the laser irradiator 300, camera 350, acceleration sensor 351, tilt sensor 352, infrared thermograph 410, input device 420, storage device 440, timer 450, output device 460, and legs 340, functions such as the laser output unit 501, image capture unit 502, irradiation direction control unit 503, temperature measurement unit 504, inspection execution unit 505, learning model storage unit 506, bottom surface identification unit 507, irradiation direction calculation unit 508, direction adjustment unit 509, stop unit 510, acceleration detection unit 511, tilt detection unit 512, and base unit 513, which will be described later, are realized.

The water-immersion inspection device control program 700 is a general term for the programs for implementing the functions of the water-immersion inspection device 500, and includes, for example, application programs and an OS (Operating System) that run on the water-immersion inspection device 500, various libraries, etc.

The water-submersion inspection device 500 reads the water-submersion inspection device control program 700 from a recording medium (not shown), such as a CD-ROM, DVD, or USB (registered trademark) memory, and stores it in the storage device 440. Alternatively, the water-submersion inspection device 500 downloads the water-submersion inspection device control program 700 from another computer that is communicatively connected via a communication network (not shown), and stores it in the storage device 440.

The storage device 440 is a device that provides a physical storage area for storing various programs, data, tables, etc., such as a semiconductor memory, a hard disk drive, or an SSD (Solid State Drive). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the storage device 440 stores various data such as the water immersion inspection device control program 700, learning data 610, and a learning model 620.

The storage device 440 stores learning data 610 and a learning model 620. The water ingress inspection device 500 generates learning data 610 using multiple image data of the air contactor 100 captured in the past, and generates a learning model (AI model) 620 that can identify the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100 captured in the image.

The learning data 610 is data (teacher data) used to train the learning model 620. The learning model 620 is a machine learning model created to identify the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100 when new image data of the air contactor 100 is input, and by learning using a larger amount of learning data 610, it becomes possible to identify the bottom surface 130 more accurately.

The water ingress inspection device 500 can input image data of the air contactor 100 newly captured by the camera 350 into the learning model 620, thereby identifying the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100 captured in the image.

Based on the position of the bottom surface 130 in this image, the water ingress inspection device 500 can then calculate the difference between the current orientation of the laser irradiator 300 and the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 that would irradiate the laser onto the bottom surface 130 of the air contactor 100.

This will be explained with reference to Figure 9.

In FIG. 9, the bottom surface 130 (indicated by an x) of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100 is identified from the image data newly input to the learning model 620, and the difference between the current orientation of the laser irradiator 300 indicated by the center of the image (the intersection of the x-axis and y-axis) and the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 such that the laser is irradiated to the bottom surface 130 of the air contactor 100 is shown to be (-Δx, +Δy).

In this case, the water-submersion inspection device 500 adjusts the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 by changing it by -Δx in the azimuth direction and by +Δy in the elevation direction (i.e., displacing the first tripod 342 by -Δx around the first pivot axis and the second tripod 343 by +Δy around the second pivot axis), thereby controlling the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 so that the laser is irradiated to the bottom surface 130 of the air switch 100.

The water ingress inspection device 500 generates learning data 610 by using image data of the air contactor 100 obtained in a water ingress inspection carried out, for example, during a specified period in the past (one month, six months, one year, etc., hereafter referred to as the "time interval") as explanatory variables (features) and associating the position of the bottom surface 130 of the air contactor 100 in each image data as a target variable (label). Note that the task of associating the image data with the position of the bottom surface 130 does not need to be performed on a time interval basis, and may be performed each time a water ingress inspection is carried out.

The above time interval is set empirically, for example, based on the frequency of conducting water inundation tests. In addition, learning models 620 may be generated for multiple time intervals, and the bottom surface 130 of the air contactor 100 may be identified using these learning models 620. The above time interval is set, for example, based on past cases, to a length that improves the accuracy of identifying the bottom surface 130.

Alternatively, the water-immersion testing device 500 may generate the learning data 610 from the results of water-immersion tests performed within the above-mentioned time interval, but may generate the learning data 610 from the results of a predetermined number of water-immersion tests (e.g., 10,000).

Alternatively, the flood inspection device 500 may select a predetermined number of pieces (e.g., 1,000 pieces from each company) for each manufacturer of the air contactor 100 to generate the learning data 610. In this manner, it is possible to prevent the content of the learning data 610 used to train the learning model 620 from varying depending on the manufacturer of the air contactor 100.

In this embodiment, the learning model 620 is a DNN (Deep Neural Network), but it may be realized by other types of models such as gradient boosting (GBDT (Gradient Boosting Decision Tree)).

Figure 5 shows an example of the learning model 620 (neural network structure). As shown in Figure 5, image data is input to the input layer 621 of the learning model 620. The intermediate layer 622 includes one or more hidden layers consisting of one or more nodes including parameters adjusted by learning. The intermediate layer 622 determines the position of the bottom surface 130 in the image output from the output layer 623 based on the image data provided to the input layer 621. The learning model 620 of this embodiment outputs the position of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100 to be inspected from the output layer 623. Note that, in addition to the position of the bottom surface 130 of the air contactor 100 to be inspected, other values (for example, the manufacturer, model, specifications, etc. of the air contactor 100) may be output from the output layer 623.

The learning data 610 is required when learning the learning model 620, but is not required at other times, so it does not need to be stored in the storage device 440 of the water-submersion inspection device 500. In this case, for example, the learning data 610 is stored in a computer (not shown), and the learning model 620 is trained on this computer. The water-submersion inspection device 500 then acquires the trained learning model 620 from this computer via the above-mentioned recording medium or communication network, and stores it in the storage device 440.

Returning to FIG. 3, the memory device 440 can be built into the water immersion inspection device 500 or can be externally attached.

The input device 420 is a device that allows the water ingress inspection device 500 to acquire data from the outside. For example, image data of the air contactor 100 captured by the camera 350 and measurement data from the acceleration sensor 351 and the tilt sensor 352 are input via the input device 420. Furthermore, an operator may input information such as the inspection date and time, weather, and the operator's name via the input device 420.

The input device 420 may be, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or a microphone, but may also include a communication function with other electronic devices such as the laser irradiator 300 or a USB (registered trademark) memory, and a communication function with other computers via a communication network such as the Internet or a LAN.

The infrared thermograph 410 measures the temperature of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120, which rises as the fiber laser is irradiated. Specifically, the infrared thermograph 410 detects the infrared radiation energy appearing on the bottom surface 130 when the fiber laser is irradiated from the laser irradiator 300 to the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120, converts it into an apparent temperature, and displays, for example, a temperature distribution diagram of the entire bottom surface 130 with colors corresponding to the apparent temperatures on the display 411.

At this time, information indicating the apparent temperature at the position on the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 where the fiber laser is irradiated is stored in the storage device 440 while being updated sequentially. The infrared thermograph 410 starts operating in response to a control command output from the inspection device 400, which acquires via the input device 420 an irradiation start signal that is generated when an operator operates an irradiation start button (not shown) provided on the laser irradiator 300, for example.

In addition, in order to precisely detect the temperature distribution on the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 and make it easier for the operator to grasp the temperature distribution on the bottom surface 130, a magnifying lens (e.g., a 4x lens) may be attached to the infrared thermograph 410, the infrared radiation energy on the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 may be converted into apparent temperature, and the temperature distribution on the bottom surface 130 may be displayed on the display 411.

Figures 6A and 6B show the temperature of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 measured by the infrared thermograph 410 and displayed on the display 411.

Figure 6A shows an example of the temperature distribution of the bottom surface 130 when the housing 120 is not submerged in water and a 20 W fiber laser is irradiated from the laser irradiator 300 to the bottom surface 130.

On the other hand, FIG. 6B shows an example of the temperature distribution of the bottom surface 130 when the housing 120 is submerged in water and the bottom surface 130 is irradiated with a 20 W fiber laser from the laser irradiator 300.

In the example of FIG. 6A, the position of the cross mark is the position where the fiber laser is irradiated, and it shows that the temperature at this position rose to 158°C one minute after irradiation started. The "Maximum 158" shown in the upper left corner of the display 411 is the temperature at the position where the fiber laser is irradiated. From this, the operator can visually determine through the display 411 that the housing 120 is not flooded.

6B, the position of the cross mark is the position of irradiation with the fiber laser, and shows that the temperature at this position rose to 82° C. one minute after the start of irradiation. The "maximum 82" shown in the upper left corner of the display 411 is the temperature at the position of irradiation with the fiber laser. From this, the operator can visually recognize through the display 411 that the housing 120 is flooded.
The outside temperature is shown in the upper center of the display 411. For example, the outside temperature is 34.7° C. in Fig. 6A, and 36.7° C. in Fig. 6B.

Returning to FIG. 3, the timer 450 starts timing from a reset state, triggered, for example, by the operation of the irradiation start button. The timer 450 may be a software timer realized by the CPU 430 executing the water immersion inspection device control program 700, or may be a timer configured by hardware.

<Functional configuration>
8 shows a functional block diagram of the water immersion inspection device 500 according to this embodiment. The water immersion inspection device 500 includes the following functions: a laser output unit 501, an image capture unit 502, an irradiation direction control unit 503, a temperature measurement unit 504, an inspection execution unit 505, a learning model storage unit 506, a bottom surface identification unit 507, an irradiation direction calculation unit 508, a direction adjustment unit 509, a stop unit 510, an acceleration detection unit 511, an inclination detection unit 512, a pedestal unit 513, a first pedestal unit 514, a second pedestal unit 515, and a third pedestal unit 516. These functions are realized by the hardware shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 executing or processing the water immersion inspection device control program 700 according to this embodiment and various data.

The laser output unit 501 outputs a laser. In this embodiment, the laser output unit 501 is embodied as the laser irradiator 300, and outputs a fiber laser.

The photographing unit 502 photographs the outside world along the direction of the laser output unit 501. In this embodiment, the photographing unit 502 is embodied as the camera 350. The photographing unit 502 may be configured integrally with the laser output unit 501. In this manner, the orientation of the photographing unit 502 does not deviate from the orientation of the laser output unit 501, making it possible to eliminate the need to align the optical axis to match the orientation of the photographing unit 502 with the orientation of the laser output unit 501.

The irradiation direction control unit 503 analyzes the image captured by the image capturing unit 502 and controls the direction of the laser output unit 501 so that the laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air switch 100.

The irradiation direction control unit 503 is configured with a learning model memory unit 506, a bottom surface identification unit 507, an irradiation direction calculation unit 508, and a direction adjustment unit 509.

The learning model storage unit 506 stores a learning model 620 that is created using multiple image data of the air contactor 100 captured in the past to identify the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100 captured in the image. In this embodiment, the learning model storage unit 506 is embodied as the storage device 440.

The bottom surface identification unit 507 inputs image data of the air contactor 100 newly captured by the image capture unit 502 into the learning model 620, thereby identifying the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100 captured in the image. FIG. 10 shows how the bottom surface identification unit 507 identifies the bottom surface 130 of the air contactor 100 (the part marked with an x in FIG. 10).

The irradiation direction calculation unit 508 calculates the difference between the current orientation of the laser output unit 501 and the orientation of the laser output unit 501 that irradiates the laser on the bottom surface 130 of the air switch 100, based on the position of the bottom surface 130 in the image. The difference calculated by the irradiation direction calculation unit 508 is shown as (-Δx, +Δy) in FIG. 10.

More specifically, the irradiation direction calculation unit 508 calculates the difference based on the position of the bottom surface 130 in the image in which the air switch 100 is shown and the magnification when the photographing unit 502 photographs the air switch 100. For example, if the photographing unit 502 can photograph the outside world by changing the magnification, the angle of view changes depending on the magnification even if the size of the screen photographed by the photographing unit 502 is the same, so it is necessary to take the magnification into consideration in order to calculate the adjustment amount (difference) of the angle of the laser output unit 501. In other words, if the irradiation direction calculation unit 508 calculates the adjustment amount (difference) of the angle based on the position of the bottom surface 130 in the image in which the air switch 100 is shown and the magnification when the photographing unit 502 photographs the air switch 100, the photographing unit 502 can photograph the outside world by changing the magnification. However, when the magnification of the imaging unit 502 is constant, the angle of view is also constant, so the irradiation direction calculation unit 508 can calculate the above difference if it knows the position of the bottom surface 130 within the screen.

The direction adjustment unit 509 adjusts the direction of the laser output unit 501 based on the difference calculated by the irradiation direction calculation unit 508. In this embodiment, the direction adjustment unit 509 adjusts the direction of the laser output unit 501 by controlling the above-mentioned first step motor and second step motor (not shown).

When the laser output unit 501 irradiates the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air switch 100 with a laser, the temperature measurement unit 504 measures the temperature of the bottom surface 130 of the air switch 100, which rises with the irradiation of the laser. For example, the temperature measurement unit 504 measures a first temperature of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 at a first time point when the laser irradiation starts, and a second temperature of the bottom surface 130 at a second time point when a predetermined time (e.g., 60 seconds) has passed since the first time point. By measuring the first temperature and the second temperature in this manner, the temperature rise value of the housing 120 at the predetermined time can be calculated. In this embodiment, the temperature measurement unit 504 is embodied as an infrared thermograph 410.

The inspection execution unit 505 inspects the air contactor 100 for water infiltration based on the measurement result of the temperature of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100. For example, the inspection execution unit 505 inspects the air contactor 100 for water infiltration by comparing the temperature value at the second time point with a predetermined judgment value. In this case, the inspection execution unit 505 judges that water infiltration has occurred in the air contactor 100 if the temperature of the bottom surface 130 60 seconds after the start of laser irradiation is equal to or lower than the predetermined judgment value, and judges that water infiltration has not occurred if the temperature exceeds the predetermined judgment value.

Alternatively, the inspection execution unit 505 inspects the air contactor 100 for water ingress by comparing the temperature rise value between the first and second time points with a predetermined judgment value. In this case, it becomes possible to inspect the air contactor 100 for water ingress without being affected by differences in outside air temperature.

As described above, the water ingress inspection device 500 according to this embodiment inputs the image of the air contactor 100 captured by the image capture unit 502 into the learning model 620 to identify the position of the bottom surface 130, and then adjusts the orientation of the laser output unit 501. This makes it possible to improve the efficiency of the work of adjusting the orientation of the laser output unit 501, and reduces the workload of the worker when pointing the laser output unit 501 at the air contactor 100 installed on a pole.

The stop unit 510 stops the output of the laser from the laser output unit 501 if the laser irradiation position is misaligned with respect to the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air switch 100. This configuration makes it possible to prevent the laser from being irradiated in unintended locations, thereby improving safety.

For example, the stopping unit 510 may detect that the laser irradiation position has shifted when the position of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100 shown in the image, which is identified by inputting image data of the air contactor 100 captured by the capturing unit 502 while the laser output unit 501 is outputting the laser, changes by a predetermined value or more. Alternatively, the stopping unit 510 may detect that the laser irradiation position has shifted when the center of the image showing the direction of the laser output unit 501 (the intersection of the x-axis and y-axis shown in FIG. 9 ) falls outside the range of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100.

The stopping unit 510 may also detect that the laser irradiation position has shifted based on the detection result of the acceleration detection unit 511 that detects the acceleration generated in the laser output unit 501. In this case, for example, the stopping unit 510 detects the shift in the laser irradiation position by comparing the acceleration value detected by the acceleration detection unit 511 while the laser output unit 501 is outputting the laser with a first determination value. Note that in this embodiment, the acceleration detection unit 511 is embodied as the acceleration sensor 351.

The stopping unit 510 may also detect that the laser irradiation position has shifted based on the detection result of the tilt detection unit 512 that detects the tilt of the laser output unit 501. In this case, for example, the stopping unit 510 detects the shift of the laser irradiation position by comparing the amount of change in tilt detected by the tilt detection unit 512 while the laser output unit 501 is outputting the laser with the second judgment value. Note that in this embodiment, the tilt detection unit 512 is embodied as the tilt sensor 352.

The base 513 is a device for placing the laser output unit 501, and is installed in a predetermined position when inspecting the air switch 100 for water ingress. In this embodiment, the base 513 is embodied as the leg 340. The base 513 includes a first base 514, a second base 515, and a third base 516.

The first base portion 514 is installed in a predetermined position when inspecting the air contactor 100 for water ingress. In this embodiment, the first base portion 514 is embodied as a tripod 341.

The second pedestal 515 is attached to the first pedestal 514 so as to be rotatable around a first rotation axis in the vertical direction. The third pedestal 516 is attached to the second pedestal 515 so as to be rotatable around a second rotation axis in the horizontal direction, and mounts the laser output unit 501 thereon. In this embodiment, the second pedestal 515 is embodied as the first tripod 342, and the third pedestal 516 is embodied as the second tripod 343.

The direction adjustment unit 509 adjusts the direction of the laser output unit 501 by adjusting the direction of the second base unit 515 and the direction of the third base unit 516.

This configuration makes it possible to accurately orient the laser output unit 501 toward the bottom surface 130 of the air switch 100.

The flood inspection device 500 then displays the results of the flood inspection of the air switch 100 on the output device 460 or display 411 in a manner such as that shown in FIG. 12.

As described above, the water ingress inspection device 500 according to this embodiment inputs the image of the air contactor 100 captured by the image capture unit 502 into the learning model 620 to identify the position of the bottom surface 130, and then adjusts the orientation of the laser output unit 501. This eliminates the need for an operator to adjust the orientation of the laser output unit 501, and reduces the workload of pointing the laser output unit 501 at the air contactor 100 installed on a pole. This makes it possible to perform water ingress inspection of the air contactor 100 installed on a pole more accurately and efficiently.

==Process flow==
Next, with reference to Figures 10 to 11, the process in which the water ingress inspection device 500 of this embodiment uses the learning data 610 to learn the learning model 620, and the process flow when performing a water ingress inspection of the air contactor 100 after adjusting the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 using this learning model 620 will be described.

Figure 10 is a flowchart explaining the process when the water-submersion inspection device 500 uses the learning data 610 to learn the learning model 620. The timing at which the water-submersion inspection device 500 performs learning of the learning model 620 is not necessarily limited, but the water-submersion inspection device 500 performs the learning process of the learning model 620 when, for example, the water-submersion inspection device 500 acquires new image data, when an instruction to perform learning is received from a person in charge via a user interface such as the input device 420, or at a predetermined time that occurs at a predetermined period (once a month, once a year, etc.).

First, the water ingress inspection device 500 generates training data 610 that associates multiple images of the air switch 100 taken by the camera 350 during past water ingress inspections carried out within a time interval with the position of the bottom surface 130 of the air switch 100 shown in each image (S1000). The position of the bottom surface 130 in each image is individually specified by the creator of the training data 610.

Next, the water immersion inspection device 500 performs a learning process for the learning model 620 using the learning data 610 (S1010).

The water ingress inspection device 500 may also verify the prediction accuracy of the trained learning model 620. In this case, the water ingress inspection device 500 classifies the learning data 610 into learning data and verification data in advance, trains the learning model 620 using the learning data, and verifies the learning model 620 using the verification data.

Figure 11 is a flowchart that explains the process flow when the water ingress inspection device 500 adjusts the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 using the learning model 620 and then performs a water ingress inspection of the air contactor 100.

First, the worker identifies a position on the road surface where the fiber laser can be irradiated onto the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air switch 100 installed at a high position on the utility pole 200, and installs the legs 340 and the laser irradiator 300 at that position. At this time, the worker roughly adjusts the position of the legs 340 and the orientations of the first tripod 342 and the second tripod 343 so that the emission port 330 of the laser irradiator 300 faces the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120. The worker also installs the inspection device 400 at a position where the infrared radiation energy of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 when the fiber laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface 130 can be converted into an apparent temperature.

Once the installation of the legs 340, the laser irradiator 300, and the inspection device 400 is complete, the water ingress inspection device 500 uses the camera 350 to photograph the air contactor 100 (S2000). The water ingress inspection device 500 then transfers this image data from the camera 350 to the inspection device 400.

The inspection device 400 inputs image data of the air contactor 100 newly captured by the camera 350 into the learning model 620, thereby identifying the position of the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 of the air contactor 100 captured in the image (S2010).

Then, based on the position of the bottom surface 130 in the image, the inspection device 400 calculates the difference between the current orientation of the laser irradiator 300 and the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 that would irradiate the laser to the bottom surface 130 of the air switch 100 (S2020), and based on this difference, adjusts the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 so that it faces the bottom surface 130 (S2030).

Then, when the operator operates the irradiation start button of the laser irradiator 300 and detects the generation of an irradiation start signal (S2040), the water immersion inspection device 500 irradiates a fiber laser from the laser irradiator 300 toward the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 (S2050).

The water ingress inspection device 500 then controls the infrared thermograph 410 to convert the infrared radiation energy appearing on the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 into apparent temperature at regular intervals (e.g., 1 second), and displays it as a temperature distribution map of the entire bottom surface 130 on the display 411, as shown in Figures 6A and 6B. The water ingress inspection device 500 also stores information indicating the apparent temperature at the position where the fiber laser is irradiated on the bottom surface 130 of the air switch 100 in the storage device 440, updating it sequentially.

The water immersion inspection device 500 also stores in the storage device 440 the temperature (first temperature) of the bottom surface 130 at the first point in time when the irradiation start signal is detected.

The water ingress inspection device 500 checks whether the timing measured by the timer 450 has reached one minute (S2060).

When the timing of the timer 450 reaches a second time point, which is one minute after the first time point (S2060), the water immersion inspection device 500 stores the temperature of the bottom surface 130 at the second time point (second temperature) in the storage device 440.

The water ingress inspection device 500 then compares the difference between the first temperature and the second temperature with a predetermined judgment value to determine whether the air contactor 100 is flooded or not.

The water ingress inspection device 500 then generates a screen showing the inspection results as shown in FIG. 12, and outputs the inspection results to the display 411 or the output device 460 (S2070). Note that FIG. 12 shows the inspection date and time, the identification number of the switch to be inspected, and the like, but this information was entered into the inspection device 400 before the water ingress inspection began.

The above describes the water ingress inspection device 500, the control method for the water ingress inspection device 500, and the water ingress inspection device control program 700 according to this embodiment. According to this embodiment, the image of the air contactor 100 taken by the camera 350 is input to the learning model 620 to identify the position of the bottom surface 130 of the air contactor 100, and then the orientation of the laser irradiator 300 is adjusted. This eliminates the need for an operator to adjust the orientation of the laser irradiator 300, and reduces the workload of pointing the laser irradiator 300 at the air contactor 100 installed on a pole. This makes it possible to perform water ingress inspection of the air contactor 100 installed on a pole more accurately and efficiently.

In this embodiment, the fiber laser is irradiated to one location on the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120 to inspect whether the inside of the housing 120 is flooded, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the fiber laser may be sequentially irradiated to multiple different locations on the bottom surface 130 of the housing 120, and the inspection operation of FIG. 11 may be performed for each of the multiple irradiation locations of the fiber laser, thereby increasing the accuracy of the inspection regarding whether the housing 120 is flooded.

In addition, in this embodiment, a fiber laser is used to inspect whether or not water has entered the housing 120, but this is not limited to this. A solid-state laser other than a fiber laser may also be used as long as it is capable of inspecting whether or not water has entered the housing 120 in the same manner as in this embodiment.

In addition, in this embodiment, the water ingress inspection device 500 is installed on the ground and the air contactor 100 is inspected for water ingress, but the inspection may be performed from the air. For example, a propeller may be provided on the leg 340, and the air contactor 100 may be irradiated with a laser while the laser irradiator 300 is levitated in the air to inspect for water ingress.

The above embodiment is intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified or improved without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and equivalents thereof are also included in the present invention.

100 Air switch 110 Charging unit 120 Housing 130 Bottom surface 200 Utility pole 210 Power distribution line 300 Laser irradiator 310 Excitation unit 311 Semiconductor laser 312 Optical fiber 313 Excitation combiner 314 Optical fiber 320 Resonator unit 321 High reflectance mirror 322 Amplification fiber 323 Low reflectance mirror 330 Exit port 340 Leg 341 Tripod 342 First tripod stand 343 Second tripod stand 350 Camera 351 Acceleration sensor 352 Tilt sensor 400 Inspection device 410 Infrared thermograph 411 Display 420 Input device 430 CPU
440 Storage device 450 Timer 460 Output device 500 Water immersion inspection device 501 Laser output unit 502 Photography unit 503 Irradiation direction control unit 504 Temperature measurement unit 505 Inspection execution unit 506 Learning model storage unit 507 Bottom surface identification unit 508 Irradiation direction calculation unit 509 Direction adjustment unit 510 Stop unit 511 Acceleration detection unit 512 Tilt detection unit 513 Pedestal unit 514 First pedestal unit 515 Second pedestal unit 516 Third pedestal unit 610 Learning data 620 Learning model 621 Input layer 622 Intermediate layer 623 Output layer 700 Water immersion inspection device control program

Claims (11)

A water ingress inspection device for inspecting water ingress of an air switchgear installed on a pole, comprising:
A laser output unit that outputs a laser;
an imaging unit that captures an external environment along the direction of the laser output unit;
an irradiation direction control unit that controls a direction of the laser output unit so that a laser is irradiated onto a bottom surface of a housing of the air switch by analyzing the image captured by the imaging unit;
a temperature measuring unit that measures the temperature of the bottom surface that increases with the irradiation of a laser;
an inspection execution unit that inspects the air contactor for flooding based on the measurement result of the temperature of the bottom surface;
Equipped with
The irradiation direction control unit is
a learning model storage unit that stores a learning model that is created by using a plurality of image data of the air contact switch that have been photographed in the past, so as to identify the bottom surface of the housing of the air contact switch that is photographed in the image;
a bottom surface identification unit that inputs image data of the air contact switch newly photographed by the photographing unit into the learning model to identify a bottom surface of a housing of the air contact switch photographed in the image;
an irradiation direction calculation unit that calculates a difference between a current orientation of the laser output unit and an orientation of the laser output unit such that a laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface of the air switch, based on a position of the bottom surface within the image;
a direction adjustment unit that adjusts the direction of the laser output unit based on the difference;
A water immersion inspection device comprising: The water immersion inspection device according to claim 1,
The imaging unit is integral with the laser output unit, The water immersion inspection device according to claim 1 or 2,
A base portion on which the laser output unit is placed;
Further equipped with
The base portion is
a first base portion that is installed at a predetermined position when inspecting the air switch for flooding;
a second base portion attached to the first base portion so as to be rotatable about a first rotation axis in a vertical direction;
a third base portion that is attached to the second base portion so as to be rotatable about a second rotation axis in a horizontal direction and on which the laser output unit is placed;
having
The direction adjustment unit adjusts the direction of the laser output unit by adjusting the direction of the second base unit and the direction of the third base unit, respectively. The water immersion inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The irradiation direction calculation unit is
A water-submersion inspection device that calculates the difference based on the position of the bottom surface in an image in which the air contactor is captured and the magnification at which the photographing unit photographed the air contactor. The water immersion inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
a stopper that stops output of a laser from the laser output unit when an irradiation position of the laser with respect to the bottom surface of the housing is shifted;
The water immersion inspection device further comprises: The water immersion inspection device according to claim 5,
The stop portion is
A water-submersion inspection device that detects a shift in the laser irradiation position when the position of the bottom surface of the housing of the air contactor shown in the image, which is identified by inputting image data of the air contactor captured by the photographing unit while the laser output unit is outputting a laser, changes by more than a predetermined value. The water immersion inspection device according to claim 5 or 6,
an acceleration detection unit that detects acceleration generated in the laser output unit;
Further equipped with
The stopping unit detects a shift in the laser irradiation position by comparing the acceleration value detected by the acceleration detection unit while the laser output unit is outputting a laser with a first judgment value. The water immersion inspection device according to any one of claims 5 to 7,
A tilt detection unit that detects a tilt of the laser output unit;
Further equipped with
The stopping unit detects a shift in the laser irradiation position by comparing the amount of change in inclination detected by the inclination detection unit while the laser output unit is outputting a laser with a second judgment value. The water immersion inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The water immersion inspection apparatus, wherein the laser is a fiber laser. A laser output unit that outputs a laser;
an imaging unit that captures an external environment along the direction of the laser output unit;
an irradiation direction control unit that controls a direction of the laser output unit so that a laser is irradiated onto a bottom surface of a housing of an air contact switch installed on a pole by analyzing an image captured by the imaging unit;
a temperature measuring unit that measures the temperature of the bottom surface that increases with the irradiation of a laser;
an inspection execution unit that inspects the air contactor for flooding based on the measurement result of the temperature of the bottom surface;
A method for controlling a water immersion inspection device comprising:
The irradiation direction control unit,
A learning model is created to identify the bottom surface of the housing of the air contact switch captured in the image by using multiple image data of the air contact switch captured in the past, and the learning model is stored;
inputting image data of the air contact switch newly photographed by the photographing unit into the learning model, thereby identifying a bottom surface of a housing of the air contact switch photographed in the image;
Calculating a difference between a current orientation of the laser output unit and an orientation of the laser output unit such that a laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface of the air switch based on a position of the bottom surface in the image;
adjusting the direction of the laser output unit based on the difference;
A method for controlling a water immersion inspection device. A laser output unit that outputs a laser;
an imaging unit that captures an external environment along the direction of the laser output unit;
an irradiation direction control unit that controls a direction of the laser output unit so that a laser is irradiated onto a bottom surface of a housing of an air contact switch installed on a pole by analyzing an image captured by the imaging unit;
a temperature measuring unit that measures the temperature of the bottom surface that increases with the irradiation of a laser;
an inspection execution unit that inspects the air contactor for flooding based on the measurement result of the temperature of the bottom surface;
A computer that controls a water immersion inspection device comprising:
A function of storing a learning model created to identify the bottom surface of the housing of the air contact switch captured in the image by using multiple image data of the air contact switch captured in the past;
a function of inputting image data of the air contact switch newly photographed by the photographing unit into the learning model, thereby identifying a bottom surface of the housing of the air contact switch photographed in the image;
a function of calculating a difference between a current orientation of the laser output unit and an orientation of the laser output unit such that a laser is irradiated onto the bottom surface of the air switch, based on a position of the bottom surface within the image;
a function of adjusting the direction of the laser output unit based on the difference;
A program to achieve this.

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