ACES: A Teleoperated Robotic Solution to Pipe Inspection from the Inside

TL;DR

This paper introduces a teleoperated robotic system designed for internal inspection of steel cylinder concrete pipes, focusing on corrosion detection using specialized navigation and measurement techniques tailored to pipe environments.

Contribution

The paper develops a comprehensive robotic inspection architecture with adaptable mechanical and control systems for effective corrosion assessment inside pipes.

Findings

Designed a robotic system with multiple navigation architectures.

Integrated corrosion measurement techniques suitable for pipe inspection.

Proposed adaptable mechanical interfaces for different pipe conditions.

Abstract

This paper presents the definition of a teleoperated robotic system for non-destructive corrosion inspection of Steel Cylinder Concrete Pipes (SCCP) from the inside. A general description of in-pipe environment and a state of the art of in-pipe navigation solutions are exposed, with a zoom on the characteristics of the SCCP case of interest (pipe dimensions, curves, slopes, humidity, payload, etc.). Then, two specific steel corrosion measurement techniques are described. In order to operate them, several possible architectures of inspection system (mobile platform combined with a robotic inspection manipulator) are presented, depending if the mobile platform is self-centred or not and regarding the robotic manipulator type, namely a basic cylindrical manipulator, a self centred one, or a force-controlled 6 degrees of freedom (DoF) robotic arm. A suitable mechanical architecture is then selected according to SCCP inspection needs. This includes relevant interfaces between the robot, the corrosion measurement Non Destructive Testing (NDT) device and the pipe. Finally, possible future adaptation of the chosen solution are exposed.