An autonomous self contained wall climbing robot for non‐destructive inspection of above‐ground storage tanks

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this research is to design a wall climbing robot (WCR) for the non‐destructive inspection (NDT) of the above‐ground storage tanks (ASTs) autonomously making the industrial inspection and maintenance tasks safer.Design/methodology/approachA WCR is designed that can be equipped with any NDT sensor. It uses permanent magnets as an adhesion mechanism to crawl over the steel tank walls. A surface coverage algorithm is proposed for the WCR to scan the AST wall surfaces autonomously with the NDT sensors to perform the necessary inspection tasks.FindingsThe proposed surface coverage algorithm performs the complete coverage of the AST walls under different obstacle configurations. It has been tested and demonstrated in simulations.Originality/valueA surface coverage algorithm is proposed for the WCR to perform the non‐destructive inspection of the ASTs autonomously. It can also be used in applications like cleaning glass building and painting ship hulls, etc.