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Autonomous Exploration, Data Acquisition, Processing and Visualisation

An Innovate UK funded project in conjunction with Q-Bot Ltd. This project aims to advance the state-of-the-art robotics developed and operated by Q-Bot aimed at autonomously mapping and insulating underfloor environments in buildings. Many buildings (especially older ones) are subject to a huge heating loss via underfloor voids and updrafts. Q-Bot have successfully developed integrated robotics systems capable of mapping underfloor environments through a semi-automated robotic SLAM system. Insulation is then sprayed onto the underside of the floorboards from below – again in a semi-automated fashion.

The robotic hardware, insulated floorboards and example result of SLAM are shown below.

The aim of this particular project is to further automate the path-planning process of the system and introduce computer vision methods to automatically classify environment regions into key components that affect the need to insulate, or lack thereof. Examples of such features include walls, boards, pipes, vents and electrical cables.