Pipe Inspection Corrosion

Prevention Robot
PIC’PR

ADVISOR: DR. JANI PALLIS

GROUP:
MOHAMMAD ALSHATWI
HASSAN ALKHIWANI
FHEED ALDHFEERI
MOHAMMED ALMANSOUR
 INTRODUCTION

In-pipe Problems
•Powerplants and gas pipelines:
Human inspection is impossible in high pressure situations.
Small pipe sizes do not allow physical inspection.

•Non Destructive Testing (NDT)

Tests can be done only for a portion of the pipe.
It can be done mostly on the external surfaces. Figure 1: NDT done for defects in a portion of pipe

Sewage Problems
•Manual labour in extreme conditions.
•Unable to access intricate locations inside the lines because of suffocation
and toxicity.
•Removal of sewage from inner lateral portions is difficult by normal
scavenging/crane scavenging.

Figure 2: Problem faced by human in sewage treatments

 EXISTING SOLUTIONS
BANDICOOT

•Developed by Genrobotics which is an Indian company established in Kerala.

•It is a remote-controlled robot which clean manholes, replacing the safai karamcharis and preventing thousands
of manhole-related deaths.
•Its robotic scavenger is equipped with Four robotic legs.
•It has a robotic arm with 360-degree motion.

Key Features
•Weight - 50kg.
•Maximum reach of robotic arm - 15m.
•Maximum load carrying capacity - 20kg.
•Fitted with High resolution camera which uses night vision to
inspect manholes.
•Artificial Intelligence is used for processing of data.
•Collector in shape of bucket is used as end effector.
Figure 3: Bandicoot basic structure
 EXISTING SOLUTIONS
MRINSPECT

•Invented in 2001 and became the base for other in-pipe inspection robots
•It can move freely along the basic configuration of pipelines such as horizontal or vertical pipelines.
•It can travel along reducers, elbows, and steer through the branches by using steering mechanisms.
•It has the ability to adjusty itself depending on the pipe diameter.

Key Features
•Six slider-crank mechanism.
•Diameter - 400mm to 650mm.
•Operating range - 1km.
•Differential steering capability.
•Inspects blockages, corrosion, cracks and defects.
•Actuated by DC motor and belt transmission.

Figure 4: MRINSPECT 3
 IN-PIPE WALL PRESSED ROBOT MOTION
MECHANISM

Figure 5: Wheeled wall pressed screw type Figure 6: Caterpiller wall pressed type

Figure 7: Caterpiller wall pressed type (Inner) Figure 8: Wheel wall pressed type
 LIMITATIONS IN THE EXISTING SYSTEM

Limitations Solution

•No provision in Bandicoot kind of robots to clear blockages in •Provision provided to clear blockages in lateral pipe.
lateral pipes.
•Good gripping between wheels and pipe wall.
•Current in-pipe robots can not be used for cleaning sewage
•Different attachments like 3 dof wrist and camera can be
pipes.
attached to the robot as per the requirement. Robot acts as a base
•Absence of modular robotic design that can simultaneously to built features upon
support inspection and maintenance activities.
Development process
Development parameters
Rotational Speed The rotational speed of the spray motor
has to be at least as much as that of the mobility motor. The
expected RPM of the mobility motor should be around
4000 RPM and that of the Spray motor to be around 7000
RPM Delivery date
Battery life The product should be able to spray a long
pipe on a single charge
Weight The product shall not be more than 5 pounds
Product cost The product should not cost more that $500
for development as a prototype.
Operating costs There should be zero operating costs
associated with the product except for regular maintaiance.
 PROJECT FLOWCHART

Discussion on Problems Brainstorm on use of

Shortlisted the key short
Shortlisting the key Related to In-Pipe robotics to enhance
comings in existing
Problems Inspection and capabilities of existing
solution.
Maintenance solution.

Propose a feasible concept

Prepare House of Market feasibility Modelling the
using combination of basic
Quality analysis Prototype
mechanisms

Optimization of the CAD model of final Manufacturing

design product of the robot
Project Objectives
Increased pipeline carrying capacity: As the deposits are removed the
volume inside the pipe increases
Improved product quality: Corrosion can cause catastrophic failure
with a check in corrosion such a risk is avoided
Power savings by reducing pump pressure: As carrying capacity
increases the pump requires less pressure to pump the fluid into the pipe
Confirmation of pipe and flow integrity
Live video streaming: To monitor the condition of the pipe and to make
sure that the cleaning is done
Remote robot control
Design Objectives
Compact design
Light weight
Aluminum structure
4 motors (1 Spray 3 mobility/crawling)
 Design Methodology
 Design and development of pipe inspection robot using CAD software.
 Fabrication of CAD models by means of manufacturing equipment’s.
 Assembling all the fabricated parts.
 Fixing a camera, motors, LEDs and mounting the circuit board onto the crawler.
 Making it to crawl inside a pipe by means of a remote to capture the video image
in a monitor.
Design Methodology Cont.
To design a robot with constrained motion in CAD modeling
To determine the torque required for the motor to make the crawler move
To determine the actual weight of the robot with the available actuator
To determine the supply voltage for the motor.
 Design Constraints- Motor
The total weight of the robot should be defined. It might help us in
determining the torque required by the motors

The total weight W of the robot is the sum of the three traction forces exerted on the
wheel.
Thus, each traction force Frx is one three of the whole weight of the robot structure.
Thus, the size of the actuator enclosed in the wheel is calculated by
t= Fs*R/3
Where Fs is the force in R is the radius of the wheel, t is the torque required /wheel

Reference: https://automaticaddison.com/how-to-determine-what-torque-you-need-for-your-servo-motors/
Design Constraints- Weight
The supply required for the 3 individual motors will be 12V.
One gear motor spins at 60RPM
Drawing 70mA of current
Producing torque of 0.3036 Nm or when its is free running at 57.6mA.
Torque= Force * Radius
Force= Torque/Radius= 0.3036/0.0225= 13.49N= 1.375kg
From the calculation, it is clearly known that an individual motor will drive the robot
having 1.375 kg. Perhaps 3 motors could be used for the crawling
so that total weight of the robot should be restricted to 4.13 kg or below

References:https://www.rbotshop.com/community/forum/t/calculations-for-robot/28628
Design Constraint-Voltage
The supply required for an actuator is 12V, 70mA. Three actuators will be
used for the robot to move inside a pipe. Since the voltage required is 12V,
we need to ensure that the connection should be in parallel where the voltage
remains the same and the current will be sum of all the current values in each
individual.
Required voltage will be 12V (Parallel connection)
Required current I= i1+i2+i3
= 70+70+70 = 210mA
The motors draw 210mA from the battery. If we use 2100mAh battery, it will
last for 10 hours for a single charge.

References: HTTPs://www.motioncontroltips.com/8-easy-steps-to-selecting-the-right-servo-systems/
Design Constraint-Movement
This mechanism has got 3 revolute pairs and a prismatic pair, so the mechanism involved here is
a four bar mechanism.

Number of links, n= 3
Number of joints, j=3
Number of higher pair, h- 0
F =3(n-1)-2j-h
Therefore F=3(4-I)-2*4-0
F=0
if F=0, the mechanism has fully constrained motion and this represents a working mechanism
which has practical utility. All the working mechanisms have single degree of freedom.

Reference: http://mechanicsmap.psu.edu/websites/5_structures/method_of_joints/methodofjoints.html
Statical Analysis
Applying the virtual work principle to the free-body diagram
gives
dW= Fr dz-Fq dx=0
The corresponding coordinates of these forces relative to the
coordinates locate at the links and are expressed as
x=l1Sinɵ

y=l2sinɵ

Z=l3cosɵ

dW =Frz d(l.2sinɵ)-Fqx=Frz *cosɵ

Thus the normal force at the central joint is

F F tan ɵ
qx= rz *
-1
 Design Specification
3 wheel: Diameter: 50 mm
3 Links
Link 1- 150mm
Link2- 150mm
Link3- 150mm
Central element: Hollow- Inner diameter-
20mm. Outer diameter 26 mm. Length 220mm
Central Element

CENTRAL ELEMENT:

Hollow:
Inner diameter- 20mm.
Outer diameter-
26mm.
Length- 220mm.
CENTRAL ELEMENT Material: Stainless steel
Wheel

WHEEL:
Wheel diameter: 50mm
Width of the wheel: 6mm
Centre hole: 5mm
Material: Metal rim with
Rubber (Optional)

WHEEL
Links
CONCEPT CAD MODEL

Figure 8: concept model parts and features(Inner)

HOUSE OF QUALITY

• QFD has been carried out to convert customer

requirements into measurable design targets.
• We have inferred from the QFD that
Configuration design, Overall size and
Nozzle pressure are the three most important
factors that influence the customer
satisfaction and we have decided to model our
robot by placing emphasis on the above
mentioned factors.
Project Time Lines
 OPTIMISED DESIGN
Major redesign of concept took place due to unforeseen circumstances of
Covid-19.
•The links are standardized such that only drilling in readily available rods
is required.
•All the nuts, bolts, screws are of standard dimension and is readily
available in hardware stores.
•Central frame can be made just by boring and drilling operations.
•Motor mechanism is directly coupled and geared motor is used.
•Electronic connectivity is made simpler.
•Overall size is also made efficient to give space for more add-ons in
central portions as well as to fit it in smaller sewage.
 Figure 9: Concept design(left) vs Optimized design(right)

• Custom shapes are avoided as much as possible to make manufacturing parts simple and universal so that It can be
distributed and the assembled in a standard manner.
• The whole mechanism makes use of readily available dampers to act as suspension and avoids multiple
parts(springs, linear slide) used in concept.
Figure 10: Dimensions of in-pipe bot
BILL OF MATERIALS

Figure 11: BOM Parts

 Additional Add-Ons

• Grabber can be attached to capture clogged particles,

even to do small maintenance work

• A 3 DOF wrist/manipulator is used to actuate the grabber

• A camera module can be fitted besides the inboard camera, this

can be utilised for inspection purposes.

• The Robot frame is modular enough to attach any such add-ons

and thus gives rise to a wide variety of applications related to
sewage & pipelines
 Key Features
• Robot uses wheeled wall pressed type locomotion using straight line mechanism with 3 links.
• It uses a special mechanism that allows it to adjust itself according to pipe diameter.
• In case of any obstacles in the pipe each wheel can adjust its height, also robot can eliminate such
an obstacle.
• It can also navigate through pipe bends by using an extension wheel at its front.
• It has three nozzles that jets out high pressure water through them, which can be used clearing the
blockages.
• It has 3 DOF wrist and a grabber as its end effector, which can be used for repairing the
pipe(concept).
• The camera can be attached to the wrist as end effector in place of grabber.
• The wheels are equipped with braking system to avoid any untoward circumstances(using cables
actuated by pneumatic actuator/solenoid subject to availability) .
• The robot can rigidly attach itself to pipe wall, so that is does not go back during blockage
cleaning operations.
 CONCLUSION
We can conclude that a serious problem like manual scavenging now has a full-fledged solution. The proposed solution is
feasible and can be a good implementation of robotic technology. It can be used for mapping of sewer pipe system, the data
acquired can then be simply used for improvement in future projects. Toxic gases can be detected using various sensor addons.
Development of the model under progress and once complete, will put it on for real world testing to analyse performance.
 

FUTURE SCOPE
We are developing it into a prototype with custom parts wherein we could make the design more adaptive and
compact, wherein it could be used in much smaller applications. Multiple add-ons can be manufacture to suit the modular
design and thus the robot acts as an opensource base on which multiple concepts can be developed.
Video
Purchase Order
Name Quantity Price Total
Battery 1 $ 25.90 $ 25.90
9v Battery 1 $ 20.44 $ 20.44
Pump Spray 1 $ 34.99 $ 34.99
Egloo Kit 1 $ 29.75 $ 29.75
Dupoint Wire 1 $ 6.98 $ 6.98
Jumper Wire 1 $ 7.28 $ 7.28
Atemega 328P 1 $ 14.95 $ 14.95
Brackets 1 $ 21.19 $ 21.19
Brackets small 5 $ 7.69 $ 38.45
Bracket, For 3/4  3 $ 6.62 $ 19.86
Servo Motor 4 $ 9.97 $ 39.88
Camera 1 $ 39.99 $ 39.99
PCB Copper Plate 1 $ 15.28 $ 15.28
Screw Set 1 $ 37.99 $ 37.99
Soldering Gun 1 $ 23.74 $ 23.74

Total 21 $ 302.76 $ 376.67

 REFERENCES

• Manual Scavenging. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manual_scavenging.

• Bandicoot Robo Scavenger. Genrobotics. “www.genrobotics.org/bandicoot

• TA Ameerudheen,: Kerala engineers who developed robot to clean manholes are on a mission to end manual scavenging.
https://scroll.in/article/869900/kerala-engineers-who-developed-robot-to-clean-manholes-are-on-a-mission-to-end-manual-scavenging

• Bandicoot robot, a solution to Manual scavenging,: Channel I’M, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhvbiSFd4Y0&t=54s

• Nur Shahida Roslin, Adzly Anuar*, Muhammad Fairuz Abdul Jalal, Khairul Salleh Mohamed Sahari,

• A Review: Hybrid Locomotion of In-pipe Inspection Robot.: ELSEVIER 2012 International Symposium on Robotics and Intelligent Sensors.

• “Actively steerable in-pipe inspection robots for underground urban gas pipelines “- published in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and
Automation 2001.
Thank you