Miniature Magnetic Robots For In-Pipe Locomotion

Inspection of both small and large diameter bore pipelines for pipe integrity and defect identification with a single system has previously been impractical; especially using wall-press locomotion methods with low adaptive range. A miniature magnetic wallclimbing robot has been developed as a robotic solution for the inspection of 50mm bore diameter pipelines which can scale in-pipe geometry obstacles to access larger connected pipelines. Using magnetic arrays directed through steel flux plates within the wheels, the robot uses magnetic forces to adhere to the pipe. The system is 3D printed and includes soft printed material rubber wheels. The robot prototype is wirelessly driven, controlled remotely through serial Bluetooth communication radio at 2.4 GHz rated up to 100m. The robot’s unique compact geometry and magnetic design allows it to scale concave rightangle wall cases in just a 50mm diameter bore. By entering pipe networks through these small existing access points the robot removes the need for expensive drilling procedures required to fit launch vessels

Miniature Magnetic Robots For In-Pipe Locomotion

Inspection of both small and large diameter bore pipelines for pipe integrity and defect identification with a single system has previously been impractical; especially using wall-press locomotion methods with low adaptive range. A miniature magnetic wallclimbing robot has been developed as a robotic solution for the inspection of 50mm bore diameter pipelines which can scale in-pipe geometry obstacles to access larger connected pipelines. Using magnetic arrays directed through steel flux plates within the wheels, the robot uses magnetic forces to adhere to the pipe. The system is 3D printed and includes soft printed material rubber wheels. The robot prototype is wirelessly driven, controlled remotely through serial Bluetooth communication radio at 2.4 GHz rated up to 100m. The robot’s unique compact geometry and magnetic design allows it to scale concave rightangle wall cases in just a 50mm diameter bore. By entering pipe networks through these small existing access points the robot removes the need for expensive drilling procedures required to fit launch vessels

The Development of an Open Hardware and Software System Onboard Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Monitor Concentrated Solar Power Plants

Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants are increasingly gaining interest as a source of renewable energy. These plants face several technical problems and the inspection of components such as absorber tubes in parabolic trough concentrators (PTC), which are widely deployed, is necessary to guarantee plant efficiency. This article presents a system for real-time industrial inspection of CSP plants using low-cost, open-source components in conjunction with a thermographic sensor and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The system, available in open-source hardware and software, is designed to be employed independently of the type of device used for inspection (laptop, smartphone, tablet or smartglasses) and its operating system. Several UAV flight missions were programmed as follows: flight altitudes at 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 m above ground level; and three cruising speeds: 5, 7 and 10 m/s. These settings were chosen and analyzed in order to optimize inspection time. The results indicate that it is possible to perform inspections by an UAV in real time at CSP plants as a means of detecting anomalous absorber tubes and improving the effectiveness of methodologies currently being utilized. Moreover, aside from thermographic sensors, this contribution can be applied to other sensors and can be used in a broad range of applications where real-time georeferenced data visualization is necessary

A vision-based system for internal pipeline inspection

The internal inspection of large pipeline infrastructures, such as sewers and waterworks, is a fundamental task for the prevention of possible failures. In particular, visual inspection is typically performed by human operators on the basis of video sequences either acquired on-line or recorded for further off-line analysis. In this work, we propose a vision-based software approach to assist the human operator by conveniently showing the acquired data and by automatically detecting and highlighting the pipeline sections where relevant anomalies could occur

Miniature Autonomous Robots for Pipeline Inspection

Aging natural gas pipeline infrastructure is becoming an increasingly large problem in the United States. There are more than 2.4 million miles of pipelines currently in use, all of which require regular maintenance and inspection to ensure safety. It is estimated that 70% of these lines were installed prior to the widespread use of the most common inspection tool, pigs, and therefore require some other tool to carry out tasks such as direct line inspection, pipeline mapping, gas quality monitoring, and cleaning. This has prompted a large growth in the area of robotic inspection devices to fill this market gap. However, many of the robots developed either fall short of true autonomy, are unable to operate in live flow conditions, or are designed for only a specific pipe size. This thesis details the design of a robotic platform called MARPI, or Miniature Autonomous Robot for Pipeline Inspection, which addresses the weaknesses of both pigs and previous robots. MARPI is a wheeled robot that was developed to include several key features: energy harvesting, wireless communication, onboard navigation system, and a small profile and footprint in the pipe. The robot uses two 150:1 micro gear motors for its drive mechanism and features a permanent Neodymium magnet to make the robot adhere to the surface of steel pipes. The energy harvesting system was characterized through a series of wind tunnel experiments which showed that to maximize the power generated it is best to have a turbine with a high number of buckets/blades, streamlined bucket geometry, and a relatively large offset from a bluff body below. To carry out the design of MARPI, a statics model was developed and used to predict the magnetic force required to adhere to and avoid sliding in the pipe, and the motor torque required to propel the robot. This model was used to analyze the performance of the robot as a function of robot size. Key results show that to minimize power consumption, the robot should travel vertically with the flow, and to maximize range per day, a small robot with a large turbine is best

A New Sensor System for Accurate 3D Surface Measurements and Modeling of Underwater Objects

Featured Application A potential application of the work is the underwater 3D inspection of industrial structures, such as oil and gas pipelines, offshore wind turbine foundations, or anchor chains. Abstract A new underwater 3D scanning device based on structured illumination and designed for continuous capture of object data in motion for deep sea inspection applications is introduced. The sensor permanently captures 3D data of the inspected surface and generates a 3D surface model in real time. Sensor velocities up to 0.7 m/s are directly compensated while capturing camera images for the 3D reconstruction pipeline. The accuracy results of static measurements of special specimens in a water basin with clear water show the high accuracy potential of the scanner in the sub-millimeter range. Measurement examples with a moving sensor show the significance of the proposed motion compensation and the ability to generate a 3D model by merging individual scans. Future application tests in offshore environments will show the practical potential of the sensor for the desired inspection tasks