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Gamma-induced image degradation analysis of robot vision sensor for autonomous inspection of nuclear sites

Gamma-induced image degradation analysis of robot vision sensor for autonomous inspection of nuclear sites
Gamma-induced image degradation analysis of robot vision sensor for autonomous inspection of nuclear sites

There is an increasing desire to conduct autonomous inspection of nuclear sites using robots. However, the presence of gamma radiation in nuclear sites induces degradation in vision sensors. In this paper, the effects of gamma radiation on a robot vision sensor (CMOS camera) used for radiological inspection is examined. The analyses have been carried out for two types of images at different dose rates: a) dark images b) illuminated images. In this work, dark images and chessboard images under illumination are analysed using various evaluation metrics to evaluate the effect of gamma radiation on CMOS Integrated Circuit (IC) and electronic circuitry of the sensor. Experimental results manifest significant changes in electrical properties like the generation of radiation-induced photo signal in sensing circuitry and radiation-induced noise affecting the visual odometry of the robot. System-level degradation for gamma dose rates upto 3 Gy/min intensifies, making data from the imaging sensor unreliable for the visual odometry. However, images captured for gamma dose rate upto 3 Gy/min can be used for surveillance purpose.

CMOS image sensor, Gamma-induced image degradation, robotic inspection, vision sensor degradation
1530-437X
17378-17390
Khanam, Zeba
9b47373e-bfe7-4882-947c-a78db5e6e1cb
Aslam, Bilal
7583320c-0375-4983-ad1e-d7f0e9ea0042
Saha, Sangeet
168b72f1-80f6-4847-aba8-7c5fb7fa22b0
Zhai, Xiaojun
93ee3dbb-e10e-472b-adec-78acfcd4cbc7
Ehsan, Shoaib
ae8922f0-dbe0-4b22-8474-98e84d852de7
Stolkin, Rustam
b373b8ef-a044-4d01-85f0-5d242dc5a062
McDonald-Maier, Klaus
4429a771-384b-4cc6-8d45-1813c3792939
Khanam, Zeba
9b47373e-bfe7-4882-947c-a78db5e6e1cb
Aslam, Bilal
7583320c-0375-4983-ad1e-d7f0e9ea0042
Saha, Sangeet
168b72f1-80f6-4847-aba8-7c5fb7fa22b0
Zhai, Xiaojun
93ee3dbb-e10e-472b-adec-78acfcd4cbc7
Ehsan, Shoaib
ae8922f0-dbe0-4b22-8474-98e84d852de7
Stolkin, Rustam
b373b8ef-a044-4d01-85f0-5d242dc5a062
McDonald-Maier, Klaus
4429a771-384b-4cc6-8d45-1813c3792939

Khanam, Zeba, Aslam, Bilal, Saha, Sangeet, Zhai, Xiaojun, Ehsan, Shoaib, Stolkin, Rustam and McDonald-Maier, Klaus (2022) Gamma-induced image degradation analysis of robot vision sensor for autonomous inspection of nuclear sites. IEEE Sensors Journal, 22 (18), 17378-17390. (doi:10.1109/JSEN.2021.3050168).

Record type: Article

Abstract

There is an increasing desire to conduct autonomous inspection of nuclear sites using robots. However, the presence of gamma radiation in nuclear sites induces degradation in vision sensors. In this paper, the effects of gamma radiation on a robot vision sensor (CMOS camera) used for radiological inspection is examined. The analyses have been carried out for two types of images at different dose rates: a) dark images b) illuminated images. In this work, dark images and chessboard images under illumination are analysed using various evaluation metrics to evaluate the effect of gamma radiation on CMOS Integrated Circuit (IC) and electronic circuitry of the sensor. Experimental results manifest significant changes in electrical properties like the generation of radiation-induced photo signal in sensing circuitry and radiation-induced noise affecting the visual odometry of the robot. System-level degradation for gamma dose rates upto 3 Gy/min intensifies, making data from the imaging sensor unreliable for the visual odometry. However, images captured for gamma dose rate upto 3 Gy/min can be used for surveillance purpose.

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Gamma-Induced_Image_Degradation_Analysis_of_Robot_Vision_Sensor_for_Autonomous_Inspection_of_Nuclear_Sites - Version of Record
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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 8 January 2021
Published date: 15 September 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: This work was supported by the U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council under Grant EP/R02572X/1 and Grant EP/P017487/1.
Keywords: CMOS image sensor, Gamma-induced image degradation, robotic inspection, vision sensor degradation

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 473476
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/473476
ISSN: 1530-437X
PURE UUID: 7b0677f5-585f-4cbd-8188-9aeabe653cb1
ORCID for Shoaib Ehsan: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9631-1898

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Date deposited: 19 Jan 2023 17:38
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:16

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Contributors

Author: Zeba Khanam
Author: Bilal Aslam
Author: Sangeet Saha
Author: Xiaojun Zhai
Author: Shoaib Ehsan ORCID iD
Author: Rustam Stolkin
Author: Klaus McDonald-Maier

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