Dynamic Optimization of a Steerable Screw In-pipe Inspection Robot Using HJB and Turbine Installation

Abstract

SUMMARY In this paper, two strategies are proposed to optimize the energy consumption of a new screw in-pipe inspection robot which is steerable. In the first method, optimization is performed using the optimal path planning and implementing the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) method. Since the number of actuators is more than the number of degrees of freedom of the system for the proposed steerable case, it is possible to minimize the energy consumption by the aid of the dynamics of the system. In the second method, the mechanics of the robot is modified by installing some turbine blades through which the drag force of the pipeline fluid can be employed to decrease the required propulsion force of the robot. It is shown that using both of the mentioned improvements, that is, using HJB formulation for the steerable robot and installing the turbine blades can significantly save power and energy. However, it will be shown that for the latter case this improvement is extremely dependent on the alignment of the fluid stream direction with respect to the direction of the robot velocity, while this optimization is independent of this case for the former strategy. On the other hand, the path planning dictates a special pattern of speed functionality while for the robot equipped by blades, saving the energy is possible for any desired input path. The correctness of the modeling is verified by comparing the results of MATLAB and ADAMS, while the efficiency of the proposed optimization algorithms is checked by the aid of some analytic and comparative simulations.

Robotic Inspection Monitoring System for Pipelines

“…The PIG type can be utilized for large distances [4]- [8] and moves inside pipelines using water pressure. The inside surface of the pipelines are not harmed by the screw-helical type's motion when it moves [11][12][13][14][15]. The inchworm may pass through pipelines because of its strong grasp despite its poor traction [18][19][20][21][22].…”

Design of PEIS: A Low-Cost Pipe Inspector Robot

“…A = 0 1 1.9871 0 ; B = 0 840.3253 (9) The evaluation of the controllability matrix results is M c = [B AB], where rank M c = 2. Based on the Kalman rank condition for controllability, the system described with Equation ( 8) is controllable since dimx = 2.…”

“…Buried white-water pipe infrastructures are regularly in need of maintenance, the cost of which may be significantly reduced by more precisely locating faults by means of in-pipe robots as reported, for example, in [2]. Several approaches and prototypes have been proposed, such as those based on wheeled locomotion [3], crawler locomotion [4], caterpillar locomotion [5], wall-press locomotion [6], walking locomotion [7], inchworm locomotion [8], screw locomotion [9], and spiral locomotion [10]. Each design solution has some merits and drawbacks that make each preferrable for specific applications.…”