Abstract
The gas pipeline networks cover approximately 200,000 km in urban region in Japan. The risk caused by severe leakage, cracking, or corrosion will lead to a big accidence for human. Therefore, the gas pipeline robots for regular inspection and maintenance are very essential for the safe operation and supply of gas. In this paper, as a fundamental study of pipeline inspection robots, a new small wireless tracked robot for gas pipeline inspection and maintenance has been developed. Due to robot’s special kinematics, it is capable of moving in straight pipe, turn at elbow and also climb the inclined pipe flexibly and efficiently. Compared with previous robots, it owns two working modes: self-navigation (automated control) and manual control mode for pipeline inspection. Moreover, a preliminary experiment has been implemented with a typical M-pipeline in 10 cm diameter/4 m length. The experiment results revealed that self-navigation could improve the efficiency of inspection.
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