Conceptual Design of a Robotic Building Envelope Assessment System for Energy Efficiency

Abstract

Conceptual Design of a Robotic Building Envelope Assessment System for Energy Efficiency Xuchu Xu, Daniel Lu, Bilal Sher, Sunglyoung Kim, Abhishek Rathod, Semiha Ergan and Chen Feng Pages 653-660 (2021 Proceedings of the 38th ISARC, Dubai, UAE, ISBN 978-952-69524-1-3, ISSN 2413-5844) Abstract: Building air leakage and moisture issues can result in significant energy loss, shorten the building envelope life cycle and require additional maintenance costs. While these issues present risks to a building and its occupants, they could be difficult to detect during building maintenance and early stages of retrofit projects. Currently, mapping air leakage and moisture issues over a building's envelope rely on manual inspections. These methods are intrusive, expensive, and hazardous to inspectors' safety. To address these challenges, we propose a non-invasive and safe conceptual solution, a Robotic Envelope Assessment System for Energy Efficiency (EASEEbot), to locate and document moisture intrusion, thermal bridges, and air leaks. EASEEbot is a high-power wall climbing drone and comes with a multi-function toolbox. It can capture 3D thermal images and auto-generate 3D models using image-based Structure from Motion (SfM) and Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM). Our deep learning algorithms will rapidly identify common building envelope defects from multi-modal sensing data. EASEEbot is also designed with a tethered wall-climbing mode and will use long-wave radar to detect hidden trapped interstitial moisture and other major envelope defects. Keywords: Building Envelope Inspection; Remote Inspection System; Building Moisture; Thermal Leak Detection DOI: https://doi.org/10.22260/ISARC2021/0088 Download fulltext Download BibTex Download Endnote (RIS) TeX Import to Mendeley