Late breaking report — Explosion proof active scope camera

Abstract

In disaster sites the presence of explosive gas and liquid is assumed. Thus there is an immediate need for an explosion proof active scope camera in SSR. This report presents a novel explosion proof active scope camera for use in domains of inspection of critical infrastructure, disaster response and recovery. This mechanism utilizes the pressure surge inherent to the water hammer phenomenon for locomotion. The mechanism has a length of 15m and can penetrate into gaps as small as 9cm. This mechanism is designed to mitigate the risk of igniting an explosion by the presence of motors, actuators and other components commonly found in active scope cameras. Several types of tests were conducted to validate the hypothesis that a mechanism utilizing water hammer can be effective and safe in SSR as an active scope camera. The apparatus is comprised of two hoses for fluid flow, an air relief mechanism at the end as well as a small scope camera. It operates by intermittently introducing compressed air bubbles into a constant flow of pressurized water. When the air bubbles reach the air relief mechanism they escape to the atmosphere which creates a pressure surge that provides forward motion.