Development of In-pipe Inspection Robot

Abstract

In recent years, robotics has become an important domain in the field of engineering. It plays a crucial role in various fields, one of them being inspection purpose. In-pipe inspection robots are necessary for the safe and smooth running of industries. Problems arising in the piping network may lead to loss of the transported medium and leakage of which often affect the environment. Hence, it must be continuously inspected which involves large amount of labour. Also, the working environment usually involves possible exposure to hazardous chemicals or gases, humid and low oxygen content air, zones inaccessible to human hands, etc. Robots can act in an inaccessible environment and also reduce human effort. Therefore, inspection robots are strongly demanded. The main objective of the present work is to design a miniature robot which can adapt to narrow surfaces. In-pipe inspection robot using DC Motor (conventional actuators) is developed for this purpose. Modelling of the robot is done in SolidWorks. Simulations were performed for horizontal and vertical configuration of pipe and results were plotted. A prototype is developed and experiments were carried out in horizontal pipe. A comparison of results for different parameters obtained from simulation study and experimental work was done.