Autopilot control unmanned aerial vehicle system for sewage defect detection using deep learning

Abstract This work proposes the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with an autopilot to identify the defects present in municipal sewerage pipes. The framework also includes an effective autopilot control mechanism that can direct the flight path of a UAV within a sewer line. Both of these breakthroughs have been addressed throughout this work. The UAV's camera proved useful throughout a sewage inspection, providing important contextual data that helped analyze the sewerage line's internal condition. A plethora of information useful for understanding the sewerage line's inner functioning and extracting interior visual details can be obtained from camera‐recorded sewerage imagery if a defect is present. In…