Innovative Exploration Techniques: Utilizing IoT-Enabled Robots for Safe and Efficient Underground Tunnel Investigation

The use of IoT-enabled robots in the investigation and maintenance of underground tunnels has gained significant attention in recent years. These robots, equipped with sensors and cameras, offer numerous advantages, including improved safety, increased efficiency, and cost reduction. This research explores the benefits of employing IoT-enabled robots for tunnel analysis and maintenance, while addressing the challenges associated with their implementation. The study focuses on the use of LIDAR technology for perception, mapping, and navigation of the robots in unstructured underground environments. The autonomous navigation system encompasses perception, map building, location calculation, planning, control, and obstacle avoidance. The research highlights the importance of autonomous systems in assisting humans in various domains and reviews past and present research using various sensors and software. The proposed work presents a comprehensive approach that combines hardware, software, and experimental methodologies to investigate the utilization of IoT-enabled robots for safe and efficient tunnel operations. The research includes the development of customized software applications, integration of advanced sensor technologies, communication infrastructure, and experimental setups to simulate underground tunnel environments. Data collection, analysis, evaluation, and validation are conducted to assess the performance and effectiveness of the IoT-enabled robots (Yan et al. in Int J Distrib Sens Netw 15(5), 2019 [1]). Additionally, the integration of IoT-enabled robots in civil engineering applications is discussed, including construction site monitoring, automated inspection and maintenance, smart infrastructure monitoring, autonomous construction and excavation, hazardous environment exploration, geotechnical monitoring, and disaster response and recovery (Valente et al. in 2020 Global IoT summit (GIoTS). IEEE, pp 1–6, 2020 [2]). The results demonstrate the visualization of surrounding objects using LIDAR data and showcase point clouds captured in cave and tunnel environments. Overall, this research demonstrates the potential of IoT-enabled robots to revolutionize underground tunnel inspection and maintenance, offering improved safety, efficiency, and quality control in civil engineering projects.