Knowledge-Based Approach for 3D Reconstruction of As-Built Industrial Plant Models from Laser-Scan Data

Abstract

The three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of as-built industrial plant models plays an important role in revamping planning, maintenance planning, and preparation for dismantling during the lifecycle of industrial plants. Recently, the 3D reconstruction of existing industrial plants was conducted using laserscan data to make surveying processes more efficient. However, the current 3D reconstruction process from laser-scan data is still limited due to the need for significant human assistance. Although a great deal of effort has been made to efficiently reconstruct 3D as-built industrial plant models, the presence of objects-such as equipment, pipelines, and valves of different sizes and shapes-in existing industrial plants significantly increases the complexity of laser-scan data and makes automating the reconstruction process more challenging in practice. The purpose of this study is to propose a knowledge-based approach for the 3D reconstruction of as-built industrial plant models from unstructured laser-scan data. First, pipelines were extracted from laser-scan data based on surface curvature information and knowledge about pipelines' sizes from existing piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID). Once entire pipelines were extracted, they were modeled based on skeleton features. Then, the remaining objects were clustered and grouped separately via the region grouping process. Afterward, clustered objects were retrieved and modeled based on global feature-based matching from the 3D database. Finally, the resulting model was checked to ensure that it was well-reconstructed according to the information regarding the relationships among objects abstracted from the existing P&ID. The preliminary results on actual industrial plants show that integrating knowledge into the reconstruction steps played an important role in the proposed approach and that this approach obtained accurate as-built industrial plant models from unstructured laser-scan data. The proposed approach could be successfully utilized to assist in many applications during the lifecycle of industrial plants.

State-of-Practice on As-Is Modelling of Industrial Facilities

“…Prior knowledge of industrial scenes has assisted researchers to detect industrial objects. [16] used prior knowledge (Piping and Instrumentation Diagram, P&ID) to detect Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing equipment (MEP). However, as-is P&IDs are often not available as prior knowledge in industrial plants, thus they do not reflect the modifications a plant undergoes through its life.…”

“…AI-BIMs of industrial plants have substantial impact in various applications. Some of these include maintenance, strategic plan-ning of their operations, revamping purposes, retrofitting of old sites and preparation for dismantling [4][5][6][7]. Inexistence of AI-BIMs will result in time lags for these operations.…”