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Why?

Inspection and Maintenance (I\&M) robotics is a growing application area with great potential social and economical impact, in particular when considering hazardous and dangerous environments. Bringing robot automation to these environments will not only improve productivity, but also help to 1) significantly reduce the risks associated with the operation, and to 2) improve working conditions. Indeed, they exist numerous I\&M tasks performed periodically in both industry and service sectors that expose workers to serious risks due to the involved harsh conditions. Sewers, off-shore Oil\&Gas platforms, wind-turbines, gas/power transportation tunnels, mines, industrial storage tanks or polluted water bodies are some good examples among others.

Ground, Surface or Aerial Vehicles (UGVs, USVs or UAVs) are preferred depending on the environment and the requirements of the task. For instance, UGVs (e.g. carts or cars) are used when the task must be performed at floor level or in confined spaces (e.g. sewers and tunnels), USVs (e.g. catamarans or boats) are used in the surface of aquatic environments (e.g. inland water bodies or the sea) and UAVs (e.g. drones or helicopters) are often the choice for inspecting large areas above the floor (e.g. wind turbines, Oil\&Gas platforms and bridges). These robotic technologies have evolved differently, driven by the maturity levels of their corresponding markets.

While the deployment of autonomous robots for I\&M has grown significantly in the last decade, most of the advances have taken place in scenarios where robot localization can be estimated precisely, or in scenarios with well-known characteristics and geometry, where robot autonomous operation is facilitated. However, there are many I\&M tasks in several industry sectors and natural environments that cannot be tackled using nowadays robotic technologies due to their harsh conditions.