LOCALIZATION METHOD FOR MOBILE REMOTE INSPECTION AND/OR MANIPULATION TOOLS IN CONFINED SPACES AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEM

A localization method and system for mobile remote inspection and/or manipulation tools in confined spaces are provided.The system (18) comprises a mobile remote inspection and/or manipulation device (3) including a carrier (24, 52a-c) movable within the confined space (7) and an inspection and/or manipulation tool (13), such as an inspection camera (14), pose sensors (22, 28, 53a-c, 54) arranged on the movable carrier (24, 52a-c) for providing signals indicative of the position and orientation of the movable carrier (24, 52a-c), and distance sensors (29, 31) arranged on the movable carrier (24, 52a-c) for providing signals indicative of the distance to interior surfaces (6) of the confined space (7) as well as a pre-existing 3D environment model of interior surfaces of the confined space.The localization method uses probabilistic comparison of measurement data provided by the distance sensors (29, 31) with simulated distance values that would result from a set of candidate poses of the movable carrier using the 3D environment model in order to precisely determine the actual 3D pose of the movable carrier .