Extended kalman filter based IMU sensor fusion application for leakage position detection in water pipelines

In water distribution networks, there is a serious loss of water due to cracks and faults in pipes. It is very important to detect these failures and fix them in a short period of time to prevent the loss of water and related income. Instead of general repair operations with high costs in distribution networks, finding the exact location of the fault and only working in that area will reduce the repair costs. Although superficial pipe listening devices seem to be the solution to this need, it is not preferred because of affected by the ambient sounds that reducing the efficiency of this method. GPS-based leak detection systems, which are commercially available on the market, can operate on large-scale water pipelines (>= 6 inch) and have high costs. In this study, we present a preliminary study of a leak detection robot prototype that can operate on smaller diameter pipes and without the need for a GPS system. In this study, a preliminary study of a leak detection robot prototype that can operate on smaller diameter pipes and without the need for a GPS system was presented. In this preliminary study, the design, production, location and leakage prediction software of a robot can move with the pushing force of water in the pipeline has been realized. The position estimation is performed by using the 9-DOF IMU (3D-accelerometer, 3D-gyroscope and 3D-magnetometer) sensor data in the Extended Kalman Filter. The leakage estimation includes the location of the corresponding peak point in the instantaneous recorded sound data. In the performed experimental studies, it was seen that the leakage location estimation error in the total 118m navigation result is about 0.25m.