Designing The Conformable pipeLine Assessment Robotic Assistant: A Soft Bodied Mobile Robot for Pipeline Inspection
Abstract: Pipe infrastructure is an extremely important issue for modern day society. Pipes transport necessary materials such as clean water, oil and gas, and hazardous waste. Failure in these networks can lead to millions of dollars in damages and can endanger communities depending on the payload. In order to ensure the health of these structures, pipes need routine inspection to identify any potential failures. The inside of pipes especially need inspecting due to failures at pipe joints and internal corrosion and cracks due to transported material. In order to keep repair efforts to a minimum, non-destructive testing (NDT) is typically preferred. The purpose of this thesis is to update and test a compact wall-press pipe inspection robot with a novel design centered around using origami inspired continuum modules. The Yoshimura module allows this design to have an extensive level of flexibility similar inspection robots do not possess. A variable suspension system and front viewing camera allow it to traverse and inspect a multitude of different pipes. To determine the efficacy of the design, tests involving speed, battery life, verifying the kinematic model, and recording the time it takes to navigate different sized pipes and joints were preformed.
Zoom Link: https://wpi.zoom.us/j/93611164664
Advisor: Professor Cagdas Onal
Committee: Professor Andre Rosendo and Professor Yunus Telliel