On the Development of a Modular External-pipe Crawling Omni-directional Mobile Robot

Abstract

In this paper, the development of a novel omni-directional inspection robot is presented, which is capable of delivering NDT sensors to surfaces on straight pipe, pipe bends and branch connections, overcoming the limitation that a test area over a pipe bend or past a branch or other obstruction raise. The lightweight crawler is attached on the outside of the pipe to the thin metal strip that holds the insulation in place without deforming the insulation through the application of a force controlled clamping mechanism while performing longitudinal, circumferential and arbitrary movements. In order to be able to cope with a range of pipe, materials and coverings, to allow for future modifications and to be able to incorporate a wide range of NDT inspection equipment, a modular approach was considered for the design of the mobile robot. Either two different inspection sensors may be mechanically incorporated into the chassis of the crawler and deployed at the same time or just a double-sided acting sensor (e.g. X-Ray). © 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.