DeWaLoP-monolithic multi-module in-pipe robot system

Abstract

This paper describes the multi-module configuration of the Developing Water Loss Prevention - DeWaLoP - in-pipe robot system. The system objective is to redevelop the pipes of the over 100 years old fresh water supply systems of Vienna and Bratislava by crawling into water canals of about 1 meter in diameter and applying a restoration material to repair the pipes. In-pipe robots with multiple modules are commonly arranged as a chain, one module linked to the next one, with at least one driving module if the robot's working environment consist of straight pipelines and with two driving modules if the pipelines contains bifurcations, where one driving module is used to move the robot in and the other is used to move out of the pipeline. The DeWaLoP robot is required to work in pipelines with bifurcation; the in-pipe robot system consists of two modules, a mobile robot (driving module) and a maintenance unit. Nevertheless, its mechanical design has been modified from the classic "chain-link- module", enabling the robot to move in and out of the pipe with only one driving module as a monolithic robot. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.