Optimized Design and Performance Comparison of Wheeled Type In-Pipe Inspection Robot

Abstract

Pipelines are crucial in transportation, requiring regular maintenance to function correctly. Robots perform maintenance works, and each robot moves through the pipes using a different mechanism. The In-Pipe Inspection robots are categorized based on their locomotion types. The mechanisms utilized by wheeled wall-pressed type In-Pipe Inspection Robots are divided into dependent and independent mechanisms. The present wheeled IPIR using the dependent mechanism finds difficulty in passing through vertical pipe with obstacles. In this study, one robot from each mechanism is chosen, and the mobility of that robot inside a vertical pipe with an obstacle is examined through simulation using the MSC ADAMS software and observed experimentally. The results show that the robot wheels used in the independent mechanism always make contact with the pipeline's inner surface compared to the dependent mechanism. This result indicates that the robot with the independent mechanism is more suitable for In-Pipe inspection.