Case study on

BANDICOOT
(A sewer cleaning robot)

HARSHVARDHAN R SHINDE
20170175
Need for robotic scavenger

● Existing manhole cleaning practices requires a worker to manually position the sewer

rods which are fed into manhole for sewer line cleaning.

● These machines are not effective at cleaning manholes.

● Manholes are filled with toxic gases and infected liquid waste.

● Each day hundreds of scavengers are infected by diseases like amnesia and nausea.

● 80% sewage workers dying before the age of 50.

BANDICOOT : A robotic scavenger

● BANDICOOT is a robotic system for manhole and sewer line cleaning aimed at the
complete elimination of manual scavenging from the face of earth.

● It has two units :

1. Control unit

2. Robotic unit

● Named after a species of rat found in sewers in the Indian subcontinent.

 Removal of Cleaning
manhole cover sewer line

BANDICOOT

Cleaning
manhole
Mode of operation

● Automatic :

○ The robotic unit has a fixed, waterproof, night-vision camera that transmits 4K resolution videos
and images in real time, even in the presence of water. Various sensors help Bandicoot measure
different environmental parameters like manhole dimensions, material and chemicals inside the
manhole, humidity, temperature and so on.

○ Automatic cleaning can be applied to standard manholes. It is powered by artificial intelligence

(AI) programs based on data collected by sensors.

○ The robotic unit moves inside the manhole by itself and cleans on its own.
Mode of operation

● Semi automatic

○ For non-standard manholes, the semi-automatic control is brought into play.

○ The human being controlling the robot can use the control panel that has a display screen to
position Bandicoot inside the manhole.

○ Cleaning is done automatically.

Control unit

● It is a stationary unit stationed directly above manhole access point.

● The robotic unit is attached to this unit and lowered into manhole using pulleys.

● The control unit has a screen which gives feed of 7 cameras on the robotic unit.

● The data provided by other sensors such as gas sensor, humidity sensor, temperature

sensor can also be monitored here.

● The control unit has water jet, air compressor, electricity supply attached to it.
Control unit
Robotic unit

● Robotic unit is attached to the control unit and lowered into manhole.

● Robotic unit has limbs for stability inside manhole which are operated by pneumatic

actuators.

● An arm and a bucket is provided to clean the manhole and sewer lines.
Robotic unit

Limbs

Actuators

Robotic
arm

Bucket
Limbs

● There are four limbs and each limb can be controlled individually.

● These limbs are operated by pneumatic actuators for which an air compressor is

required.

● Manholes don’t have standard size or shape so limbs are provided to stabilise the robotic

unit inside manhole.

● The manhole may be round or rectangular, cylindrical or conical. Due to this, the limbs

are in retracted position (dia.= 0.45m) which can be extended to 1.5m.

Limbs

● Once the robotic unit enters manhole, limbs advance and robotic unit gets stabilised.

● The individual control of limbs help in dealing with all size and shape of manholes.

● At the end of limbs, there are wheels provided which can be controlled to work at more

depth.

● The pneumatic actuators maintain the grip with surrounding surface.

Bucket

● There is bucket provided for bulk removal of waste blocking the sewer lines.

● The capacity of bucket provided in Bandicoot is 18 litres.

● The bucket is also controlled by pneumatic actuators.

● The bucket is formed by two jaws attached to pneumatic actuator.

● The waste located at the bottom of the manhole can easily be picked up by this bucket.

● By using this bucket, the time for cleaning an entire manhole is reduced to 20 minutes

from 2 to 3 hours.
Robotic arm

● A robotic arm is attached to the unit for unclogging sewer lines, for holding the water jet

and for cleaning waste at bottom of manhole.

● The waste left by bucket can be cleaned by using this robotic arm.

● A jet of water can be manoeuvred in sewer lines to help clean the linkages.

● Robotic arm is useful in positioning of the sewer jet pipe.

● The arm can reach any point inside manhole because of DOF of 5.
Robotic arm

● The arm has 5 degrees of freedom:

○ It can rotate 360 degrees.

○ It can be moved vertically.

○ The arm can be extended radially.

○ Small jaws are provided at end of arm which can be controlled.

○ These small jaws are provided on a wrist joint.

Bandicoot in operation
Drives used in Bandicoot

1. Pneumatic actuators 2. High torque DC motor

3. Electric linear actuator

Sensors used in Bandicoot

1. Gas sensor 2. Infrared temperature sensor

3. Humidity sensor
Advantages

● Can clean a manhole in 20 minutes.

● Can work in any size and shape of manhole.

● Can clean 20 manholes in a day.

● Easy user interface.

● Automatic control for standard manhole size and shapes.

● Doesn’t require a human to enter manhole.

Disadvantages

● Weighs 50 kg.

● Requires control unit to be carried with it everywhere.

● High cost.

● Replacing humans.
Comparison between Bandicoot and human
scavenger

● Bandicoot can clean a manhole in 20 minutes whereas 2-3 person together can clean
manhole in 2 hours.
● Bandicoot requires only 1 person for supervision and sometimes, operating. 2 to 3
people are required for manhole cleaning.
● Bandicoot can lift the heavy manhole covers with ease whereas human struggle with it.
● The sensors on Bandicoot provide accurate data.
Applications

● For cleaning manholes

● For inspection of manholes

● For cleaning sewer lines

Other similar robots

● PIRAT

● KARO

● KURT

● MAKRO

● Sewer Croc

● Dynastorm
References

● https://www.youtube.com/user/ndtv

● https://www.youtube.com/user/HistoryIndiaTV

● https://www.genrobotics.org/bandicoot

● https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/abe9/2c331987ef268f76b441360d90262c741abc.pdf

○ Sewer robotics by Alizah Ahrary