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DOE OSTI2026

Computer vision-based rock bolt detection in orthomosaic imagery obtained in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground facility

Assessing structural integrity of large underground tunnel facilities is often a time consuming and human-labor intensive task. Thus, research using various modes of sensing and automated detection of key structural components in mines is posed to aid in safety assessments and establishing overall structural health. We propose an approach utilizing off-the-shelf camera and lidar technology fixed to a custom sensing platform, image stitching techniques, fine-tuned object detection models, and specialized model-inference methods to automatically detect, count, and map roof bolts for assessment of structural safety in man-made underground tunnels. Results show a novel workflow for effective object counting in orthomosaic tunnel ceiling images generated from collections in GPS-denied mining environments. Additionally, we demonstrate effective fine-tuning of EfficientDet object detectors utilizing state-of-the-art image augmentation techniques known as the mosaic and mixup transformations. Our work is demonstrated on sensed data and imagery collected from the Department of Energy (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) where miles of tunnel ceiling must be assessed for structural integrity.

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DOE OSTI2020

Brine Availability Test in Salt, a Heated Borehole Experiment at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, New Mexico, USA - 20233

The Brine Availability Tests in Salt is a US Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy supported activity as part of the Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition Campaign where we are performing simultaneous heated and control experiments in adjacent horizontal boreholes in the WIPP Salt Disposal Investigation drifts as part of experimental Phase 1. Phase 1a of BATS, a low-cost, small spatial-scale experiment performed in order to design instrumentation and methods for further experimentation in the URL, has been completed (June 2018 - May 2019) and is described elsewhere. In coincidence with multiple physical parameters that will be measured over the duration of the experiment, we will be measuring the liquid and vapor phases of H{sub 2}O as well as its isotopic content (not measured in Phase 1a). Three different forms of water occur in natural salts: as fluid in macro scale (mm size) inclusions, as intergranular free H{sub 2}O and as H{sub 2}O incorporated in hydrous minerals. Each of these forms has potentially different stable isotope signatures and will be influenced differentially by heat induced transport and by interaction with introduced tracers. Continuous measurement of vapor phase H{sub 2}O isotopes during borehole heating will be impacted by several effects: 1) evaporation as liquid brine flows into the borehole and evaporates completely or partially into the dry N{sub 2} stream; 2) steam from dehydration of hydrous minerals, that may enter the borehole; and 3) hydrous minerals that may form in the borehole (preferentially incorporating heavier isotopes). The continuous time series collected over the course of the heating test will be combined with analyses of pre-test and post-test collected samples of test site salt to investigate the contributions of each of the three water types as H{sub 2}O is mobilized due to the effects of heating. (authors)