2021 IEEE International Conference on Automatic Control and Intelligent Systems (I2CACIS 2021), 26 June 2021, Shah Alam,

Malaysia.

Development of a Laboratory-Scale Pipeline

Crack Inspection Robot
2021 IEEE International Conference on Automatic Control & Intelligent Systems (I2CACIS) | 978-1-6654-0343-6/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/I2CACIS52118.2021.9495871

Wee Ying Heng1,*M. K. A. Ahamed Khan1,Manickam Ramasamy2, Chun Kit Ang3,Lim Wei Hong3,
Kalaiselvi Aramugam4, C. Deisy5,S. Sridevi6,M. Suresh7
*1
UCSI University, Faculty of Engineering, Corresponding author
2,3,4
UCSI University, FETBE,
Kuala Lumpur-56000, Malaysia, *mohamedkhan@ucsiuniversity.edu.my
5
hodit@tce.edu,TCE Madurai, 6sridevi@tce.edu, TCE Madurai, India, 7Murugappa Polytechnic, Chennai, India.

Abstract— Development of society inevitably leads to
increase in unforeseen problems. An example of this is the
presence of piping system and its disadvantages. There are
numerous usages of the piping system for instance the
sewage at housing area of restaurant as well as offshore deep
sea mining of oil. Some of the problems with these systems
include blockage, cracking, etc. However, these can be solved
with advancement of technology or more specifically, robot.
By definition, a robot is a machine with the ability to carry
out complex series of actions automatically. This is
especially true for a programmable machine. By creating a
laboratory-scale pipeline crack inspection robot, these
problems can be tackled.
application as suggested earlier. In this project, the laboratory-
scale pipeline crack inspection robot has been designed and
built. This robot consists of motors for driving the body and
activating the camera or sensor for crack inspection purpose.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Out of the many types of robot, three types are selected for
further analysis to assist the design in the inspection robot. The
three are caterpillar wall pressed, wheeled wall pressing and
wheeled wall pressing with screw designs. A table showing the
in-depth analysis of these designs are as below [4][5][6].

Keyword- Robot, Controller, sensor, pipeline

I. INTRODUCTION
Pipeline system has been long implemented in the history
of human civilization. Almost all housing areas nowadays
utilize the system to distribute supplies and discard waste while
the same can be said for industrial purpose especially in the oil
and gas industry. Some common problem within this system
includes progressive deterioration, corrosion, cracking, etc.
However, the most common problem in pipeline system is the
crack detection. Robotics being one of the fastest growing
engineering field today is subject to reduce human factor such
as intensive working hours or the 3D (difficult, dangerous,
dirty) jobs. Usage of robots is increasingly common today than
before. It is also no longer exclusively used by the high-end
manufacturing-oriented industries only. One of its many uses
nowadays includes in-pipe inspecting. According to a research
made, the Global Plumbing Fixtures Market was valued USD
75 billion during 2016 and estimation of USD 112 billion in Fig.1: Table
the year 2023[1][2][3]. This shows that there is a growing
demand for the need of plumbing service for crack inspection
and opportunities to venture into this sector through robotic

Fig.2: Indicator

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 2021 IEEE International Conference on Automatic Control and Intelligent Systems (I2CACIS 2021), 26 June 2021, Shah Alam, Malaysia.

Cracks can occur in pipelines at any situation and stage. For

example, during manufacturing, fabrication, installation, or
throughout operational life. There are many types and forms of
cracking and different types of mechanisms will cause the
cracks happen.

Fig.5: Hardware connection in setup of motors

The prototype needed to detect cracks inside the pipeline

system and the crack detection will focus on slant, longitudinal
Fig.3: Different of Cracks inside the Pipeline System
and transverse cracks [11][12]. These cracks will be
There are three main types of crack shown in the figure represented by different colors which slant cracks represent by
below, which are internal axial crack, external circumferential blue, longitudinal cracks represent by green, and transverse
crack and buried axial crack.[7][8]. External circumferential represent by red color tapes.
crack and buried axial crack are still easy to detect as the
cracks are on the outer surface of the pipeline so we can find it
easily [10][11].

Fig.4: Types of Crack

III. METHODOLOGY Fig.6: Hardware connection in setup of color sensor

3.1. Hardware Design

The robot is controlled using application installed in an For the live video feedback to monitor the condition of pipe
android smartphone. The robot and smartphone are connected and to inspect the crack inside the pipeline, the wireless
via Bluetooth and the robot is act as slave device while the endoscope camera is used [13][14]. The camera able to link to
smartphone is act as master device [9][10]. When the the apps installed in smartphone wirelessly.
smartphone sent instruction to the robot, the robot will receive
the instruction from the smartphone via Bluetooth and then
take the actions given. The prototype robot is designed for a
specific diameter of the pipeline, the same can be modified to
fit different diameters of the pipe by simply attaching springs
on each of the wheel support.

Fig.7: Wireless Camera

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 2021 IEEE International Conference on Automatic Control and Intelligent Systems (I2CACIS 2021), 26 June 2021, Shah Alam, Malaysia.

There are 6 wheels in total. 4 wheels at the bottom are

connected with the motors and act as movement of the robot.
Another two wheels on top is act as adjustment to make the
robot fix to any diameter of pipe and also act as support,
stabilized the robot. Software of SolidWork is used to design
the prototype body. Below are the design of parts.

Fig.11: Coding instructions for motors control

The prototype needs to detect cracks inside the pipeline

system and the crack detection will focus on slant, longitudinal
and transverse cracks. These cracks will be represented by
Fig.8: Assemble of every parts different colors which slant cracks represent by blue,
3D printing method to build out prototype body. Below are longitudinal cracks represent by green and transverse represent
the assemble parts of 3D printing. by red color tapes. So, the color sensor is chosen as a method to
detect the cracks represent by different colors.

Fig.9: 3D printed prototype

Fig.12: Flow chart of setup of color sensor

3.2. Coding Development

Fig.13: Coding instructions for color sensor

Fig.10: Flow chart of setup of motors

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 2021 IEEE International Conference on Automatic Control and Intelligent Systems (I2CACIS 2021), 26 June 2021, Shah Alam, Malaysia.

IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1. Prototype
The length of the prototype is 23cm. The height of the
prototype is between 21cm to 28cm. This is because two levels
with wheels on the top of the prototype is adjustable. When the
levels is adjust to the lowest, the height of the prototype is
21cm and the height will be up to 28cm when the level is
adjust to the highest. While four wheels connected with motors
at the bottom are all fixed. This means that the target pipe for
the prototype able to go through is with diameter from 21cm to
28cm.

Fig.16: Detection of blue color

Fig.14: Final Prototype

4.2. Results
After connection of the Arduino to all the components
using jumper wires, the code is uploaded from Arduino IDE to
Arduino uno via cable. After all the circuits are implement to
the body, the circuits and tested and connected to the app. In
summary, the prototype build has three main function. The first
is to control the motors for movement purpose using apps
connected via Bluetooth. Secondly, the color sensor can detect
the colors and the color will be shown by RGB led module.
Lastly, the wireless camera is set behind the RGB led module
to send live feedback of color detected to the apps using
smartphone. Besides, the wireless camera can also use to
observe the condition inside the pipe for more data collecting.
Fig.17: Detection of green color
V. CONCLUSION
The wheeled wall pressing screw type robot is chosen as
the drive mechanism for this prototype to improve the ideal
speed for the inspection process. Color Sensor is selected for
the simulation of crack detection where transverse crack,
longitudinal crack and slant crack are represented by RED,
GREEN and BLUE color, respectively. The project built has
achieved its initially set objectives. I have finally able to make
a robot that move inside the pipe wirelessly that can detect
cracks and monitor it at the same time. However, this is the
first prototype and not considered as a product. The
engineering standards in this prototype can only considered as
basic knowledge. In the later build the engineering standards
should be included certifications.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to express my gratitude to UCSI University
and my supervisor, Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Khan Afthab
Ahamed Khan for his guidance and comments throughout the
time span of this project.

Fig.15: Camera send live feedback to the apps installed in smartphone

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 2021 IEEE International Conference on Automatic Control and Intelligent Systems (I2CACIS 2021), 26 June 2021, Shah Alam, Malaysia.
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