Development of a new, wireless acquisition system for EMATs compatible with the robotics operating system

Abstract

The deployment of transducers to perform in situ inspections of industrial components can be complicated, and in many cases is still performed manually by a team of operators, which involves significant costs and can be dangerous. Robots capable of deploying probes in difficult to access locations are becoming available. Electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMAT) are well suited to be used with robots since they are non-contact transducers that do not require a coupling medium, and can easily perform scans. However, existing acquisition systems for EMATs are generally not suitable to be directly mounted on robots. In this paper, a new wireless acquisition system for EMATs is presented. The system is standalone, it transmits the inspection data over WiFi, and is compatible with the robotics operating system (ROS). In addition, it is designed to be modular, small and lightweight so that it can be easily mounted on robots. The system design in terms of hardware and software is described in this paper. The resulting performance of the system is also reported.