+Istituto di Informatica
*Dipartimento di Elettronica e Automatica
Università di Ancona - via Brecce Bianche - 60131 Ancona - ITALY
{tascini@inform.unian.it, zinga@inform.unian.it, gconte@anvax1.unian.it}
This paper deals with a real-time application of computer vision concerning tracking and inspection of a submarine pipeline. The objective is to develop automatic procedures for supporting human operators in the real-time analysis of images acquired by means of cameras mounted on underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROV). Implementation of such procedures gives rise to a human-machine system for underwater pipeline inspection which can automatically detect and signal the presence of the pipe, of its structural or accessory elements, and of dangerous or alien objects in its neighbourhood. The possibility of modifying the image acquisition rate in the simulations performed on video-recorded images is used for proving that the system performs all necessary processing with an acceptable robustness working in real-time until a speed of about 2.5 knots, widely greater than that one the actual ROVs and the security features allow to reach.
Keywords: Real-Time Imaging, Underwater Imaging, Object Recognition, Object Tracking.
* This research was commisioned by Snamprogetti S.p.A., Fano, Italy under contract INGE94/SP/4074