Performance analysis of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping to reconstruct aircraft engines in 3D

Proper maintenance and inspection of aircraft and their engines is important for society. These engine inspections are performed using borescopes of which the footage is manually analysed. Having the opportunity to reconstruct a 3D model of the rotors would ease the inspection and introduce the possibility to automate the process. Monocular SLAM systems are capable of reconstructing such models in real-time using a video of the rotors. However, SLAM is not tested in environments similar to the aircraft turbine. This study, therefore, assesses the performance of different SLAM approaches in this specific setting. The results show that 3D reconstruction of aircraft engines using direct SLAM has potential for damage assessment. Further research into damage assessment using SLAM is therefore viable.

Recommended citation: Thomas Markhorst, Jan C. van Gemert. (2021). "Performance analysis of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping to reconstruct aircraft engines in 3D." TU Delft Repository. https://thomas-markhorst.github.io/files/2021-07-01-bsc-thesis.pdf