The detection of flaws in optoelectronic systems

Abstract

Potentially dangerous spots (PDSs), for example, leaks in product pipelines (oil and gas pipelines), are revealed using optoelectronic systems (OESs) that are usually mounted on airborne vehicles (e.g., helicopters). Earlier, a relevant problem consisted of revealing the onset of leaks in PDSs; however, today it is necessary to detect the PDSs of leaks in order to prevent their development. The complexity of the problem is related to the fact that product pipelines are most often located near densely populated areas and near reservoirs with drinking water. The appearance of PDSs is usually characterized by deviations in the temperature and other physical parameters from standard values in small areas. The detection of such spots necessitates decreasing the flying height of an OES carrier. As a rule, this yields a deterioration of imaging quality and OES overheating, which decreases the effi- ciency of this PDS detection method. Conservative OES developers believe that a low imaging quality and OES overheating result from random flaws in the OES assembly. Contrary to this, it is shown that failures occur due to a deterministic flaw at the stage of designing drives for an OES platform. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2012.