February Event: Presentations
The MTU Annual Event took place in February 2010 and was widely deemed to be a great success. We are in the process of producing an event report which will be posted as soon as possible. In the meantime, here are a collection of the day’s presentations.
Keynote Speech – Jim Anspach, Civil Engineering Consultant and Chairman of ASCE
Outlining technology, procedures and latest research in the USA.
MTU Lecture Session – Phil Atkins, University of Birmingham
Explaining MTU’s advances in sensor development and thinking; bringing the focus back to the problems we face in the UK.
ORFEUS Lecture Session – Guido Manacorda, IDS
Guido outlined the findings of the ORFEUS field trials and research programme, asking what these results may mean for the future.
Industry Viewpoint – Mike Shepherd of UKWIR
Mike outlined the beginnings and history of buried infrastructure which has led to the current streetworks situation we see today.
MTU Lecture Session – Dr Miles Redfern, University of Bath
Miles demonstrated how MTU plans to combine the sensors’ outputs, fusing this with intelligence data from records and ground condition information.
ORFEUS Lecture Session – Meinolf Rameil, TraktoTechnik
Meinolf addressed the future potential for reducing risk in no-dig utility installation with new drill head GPR tools and sensors.
The View of Ordnance Survey – Mike Darracott
Mike outlined how knowledge is being created from mapping data.
Website Additions
Two Mapping the Underworld summary pamphlets have been added to our Publications page:
- The MTU Pamphlet, which provides an overview of the project and it’s background
- The Autumn 2009 Newsletter, which provides an update about ongoing research and site trials, along with a brief summary of the Project Launch, held in February 2009.
Our next newsletter will be published shortly, and will contain a detailed overview of the MTU-ORFEUS joint event, which was held at the Ordnance Survey in Southampton earlier this year.
Newly funded AHRC and EPSRC project: DART
Dr Nicole Metje of the University of Birmingham and Professor Tony Cohn of the University of Leeds are part of a newly-funded AHRC and EPSRC project, working alongside Dr Anthony Beck at the University of Leeds.
Sensors and sensing technologies will continue to develop. The challenge has been to exploit these sensor developments in the heritage domain. DART will provide foundational data with which to evaluate the heritage potential of new sensors, and to model the conditions under which they should be deployed. This will allow heritage managers to understand the potential impact of new sensors and to deploy them appropriately.
Finally, the data from DART has the potential to provide the scientific foundation for a range of heritage research. The data from DART may not only produce a quantitative increase in the detection of a previously intangible heritage resource, it may also provide qualitative insights into the nature and preservation of the heritage objects. Understanding that an archaeological residue is detectable in one, or many, sensor configurations may allow an understanding of the underlying physical condition and therefore, the nature of the residue itself. This may provide a springboard for further research into heritage monitoring, preservation and environmental monitoring.
April 2010: Research Update
The current phase of the MTU initiative aims to research and develop a multi-sensor prototype device capable of locating and mapping the position of all buried utilities.
The research is investigating four sensor technologies: ground penetrating radar (GPR), low frequency electromagnetic fields, magnetic field technologies and acoustics; their performance when deployed in combination; and how data fusion from the four sensors improves detection certainty.
Research Update
- Since the commencement of the MTU multi-sensor device project in January 2009 the focus of the research has been on sensor development and/or operational enhancement.
- Trials are planned at UK and European test sites to optimise sensor performance.
GPR
The GPR sensors are currently being developed to operate both from the surface and when contained in an ‘in-pipe’ device. The GPR sensors will be deployed in four ways: traditional surface down; look through by transmitting from the surface with in-pipe receivers; look through by transmitting from the pipe with a surface receivers; and look out from the pipe with the transmitter and receivers both in-pipe. Stepped frequency continuous wave protocols with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing are being used.
Low Frequency Electro-Magnetics
The low frequency electromagnetic sensor, which is based on electrical resistivity principles, has been developed from a numerical model to a proto-type and is designed to detect objects that traditional GPR surveys may miss. It has been trialled in conjunction with a commercial GPR device, with encouraging results.
Data Acquisition
Automated data acquisition systems are currently being developed for the sensor. A parallel PhD project has the aim of locating leaking water pipes using this sensor to detect streaming potentials.
Magnetic Field Technology
The passive magnetic field sensor has similarly developed from a numerical model to a proto-type unit that is designed to detect the magnetic fields generated from single-phase and three-phase power cables, as well as any magnetic anomalies caused by adjacent metallic pipes. The sensor is currently being tested both under laboratory conditions in the field.
Acoustics
The surface-mounted acoustic sensors have been shown to detect clearly the location of a pipe if it is excited directly, and work is being undertaken to detect shallow pipes via excitation of the ground. Traditional exciters are being tested in conjunction with a purpose built Rayleigh wave exciter and laser vibrometry has been trialled as a means of non-contact data collection in place of traditional geophones.
Data Fusion
Whilst the sensors are under development the team responsible for fusing the data has concentrated on developing and applying algorithms to real GPR data to permit the automatic identification of size, depth and location of buried utilities. Once the sensors have been developed, this work will be extended to include all data from the multi-sensor device.
Device Tuning
Work is also being undertaken to identify methods to correlate the geophysical properties of the ground (essentially soil and fill materials) with its geotechnical properties in order to facilitate the development of a knowledge transfer system, based on information held in various UK databases (such as those at the British Geological Survey), that will enable the operation of the multi-sensor device to be optimised when on site.
Test Sites
Finally, designs for a UK test site are currently being developed to provide a facility where both geophysical devices could be developed and a training venue for those tasked with operating geophysical equipment in the carriageway.
Emerging Work
Three parallel projects have emanated from our work: change in geophysical response of the ground with the seasons and recent weather; impact of corroding iron pipes in clay soils on the efficacy of GPR location techniques; and acoustic responses for various soils.
VISTA: MTU Sister Project
In addition, research is being undertaken to fuse the data from the device with electronic records developed by the VISTA project (MTU’s sister project), both to improve the probability of detection and to assist in utility identification. To further optimise the survey, the researchers are exploring how the ground conditions, and change in conditions with season, impact upon the performance of the sensors, and how geotechnical records contained in a national database can be used to optimise sensor performance on site.
MTU Event: February 25th 2010
On February 25th 2010, Mapping the Underworld is holding its annual dissemination event. The event will be held at the Ordnance Survey Business Centre in Southampton, and is a joint event with ORFEUS (Optimised Radar to Find Every Utility in the Street).
MTU will be detailing its research progress so far, and topics covered on the day will include:
- sensor technology developments
- a practitioner view of the problems at the interface between utility detection and streetworks
- an overview of the problems faced in the USA and an outline of the new US research programmes
- data fusion: combining sensor outputs with utility record
- ORFEUS’s advances and their applicability to current thinking.
More information about this event will be posted soon. For now, please hold this date: February 25th, 2010.
Booking a Place
Online bookings can now be made: click here.
Please note that there is no charge for attendance at the Mapping the Underworld Workshop for the official MTU project partners.
Welcome to Mapping the Underworld’s New Website
Launched in October 2009, this is Mapping the Underworld’s new website. Feel free to take a look around, as there are a number of interesting new features on the site.
- We now have a blog, which will keep you updated with mini-articles concerning aspects of the project; for example, explaining the technologies being investigated by the MTU team, articles about our Project Partners, and contributions on the inspirations behind Mapping the Underworld.
- Our brand new discussion forum, which is for the use of our Project Partners and internal Project Research Team, enabling us to have virtual discussions, exchange documents, post meeting information and share news.
- The latest news page will enable us to keep all visitors to our website up to date with events and recent MTU news.
- People will introduce you to the project team and their research backgrounds, with more detail about the diverse work packages also on our site.
- You can also find out more about the parallel research initiatives taking place alongside MTU, which work to complement each others’ research and collectively contribute to the location, mapping and identification of all buried infrastructure.
We hope you enjoy exploring our new and improved website. Mapping the Underworld would like to thank Darren Langley for his excellent work with our new website.
Web Design by Darren Langley
