Field deployment of integrated active infrared thermography system for autonomous ice detection and mitigation

Abstract

Ice accretion remains a pervasive challenge for infrastructure in cold climates, posing threats to both human safety and machine operability. Addressing the issue, this work details the design, field deployment, and qualitative performance evaluation of an ice protection system integrating active infrared thermography (IRT) for autonomous ice detection and gridded-gradient electrothermal heating for ice mitigation. Founded on conceptual design and prior heat transfer simulations, the system was deployed in the field during the winter season to assess the operational endurance of IR camera and control hardware under diverse weather conditions (rain, snowfall, wind, sunshine). Significant thermal imagery dataset was collected and validated against synchronized visual imagery, which assisted in establishing autonomous decision making. The imaging subsystem achieved recall rate of 82% for correct classification of icing and the adopted cyclic anti-icing methodology reduced energy consumption by 91.6%. The field deployment offered critical insight into practical challenges faced and provides a technical roadmap for the future research and testing of similar systems in cold Arctic climates.