MHYRO: Modular HYbrid RObot for contact inspection and maintenance in oil &amp; gas plants

Lopez-Lora, A.; Sanchez-Cuevas, Pedro J.; Suárez, Alejandro; Garofano-Soldado, Ambar; Ollero, A.; Heredia, Guillermo

doi:10.1109/iros45743.2020.9341639

Cited by 25 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Vehicles with hybrid locomotion can fly to sites that cannot be accessed by ground, land, perform the final approach by means of ground locomotion, and finally perform the task from the ground or attached to a static surface. This saves energy and increases the operation time [173]. 3) Hybrid fixed/rotary-wing platforms: This includes aerial platforms integrating the beneficial features of fixed-wing (long flight time and range) and rotary-wing (vertical take-off and landing and hovering).…”

Section: B Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Past, Present, and Future of Aerial Robotic Manipulators

et al. 2022

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This article analyzes the evolution and current trends in aerial robotic manipulation, comprising helicopters, conventional underactuated multirotors, and multidirectional thrust platforms equipped with a wide variety of robotic manipulators capable of physically interacting with the environment. It also covers cooperative aerial manipulation and interconnected actuated multibody designs. The review is completed with developments in teleoperation, perception, and planning. Finally, a new generation of aerial robotic manipulators is presented with our vision of the future. Index Terms-Aerial manipulation, aerial robots physically interacting with the environment, unmanned aerial vehicles. I. INTRODUCTIONT HE field of aerial robots physically interacting with the environment, and particularly aerial robotic manipulators (AEROMs), has experienced ten years of sustained growth. Diverse prototypes, functionalities and capabilities have been developed and evaluated in representative indoor and outdoor scenarios, demonstrating the possibility to successfully perform manipulation tasks while flying. The ability of aerial manipulators to quickly reach and operate in high altitude workspaces, along with the level of maturity reached in recent years, led to the application of this technology in areas like inspection and maintenance, reducing time, cost, and risk for the human workers. In this sense, this article aims at providing a broad perspective and analysis of the work done in aerial manipulation,

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Section: B Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Past, Present, and Future of Aerial Robotic Manipulators

et al. 2022

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“…Additionally, the capability to perch will enable many other applications. For example, perching on pipes, power lines, and other structures can be used for contact inspection (7). Amongst all unmanned aircrafts, flapping-wing robots offer unrivaled safety operation making them suitable for interaction with humans, animals, plants and even industrial structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How ornithopters can perch autonomously on a branch

Zufferey

Barbero

Talegón

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Flapping wings are a bio-inspired method to produce lift and thrust in aerial robots, leading to quiet and efficient motion. The advantages of this technology are safety and maneuverability, and physical interaction with the environment, humans, and animals. However, to enable substantial applications, these robots must perch and land. Despite recent progress in the perching field, flapping-wing vehicles, or ornithopters, are to this day unable to stop their flight on a branch. In this paper, we present a novel method that defines a process to reliably and autonomously land an ornithopter on a branch. This method describes the joint operation of a flapping-flight controller, a close-range correction system and a passive claw appendage. Flight is handled by a triple pitch-yaw-altitude controller and integrated body electronics, permitting perching at 3 m/s. The close-range correction system, with fast optical branch sensing compensates for position misalignment when landing. This is complemented by a passive bistable claw design can lock and hold 2 Nm of torque, grasp within and can re-open thanks to an integrated tendon actuation. The perching method is supplemented by a four-step experimental development process which optimizes for a successful design. We validate this method with a 700 g ornithopter and demonstrate the first autonomous perching flight of a flapping-wing robot on a branch, a result replicated with a second robot. This work paves the way towards the application of flapping-wing robots for long-range missions, bird observation, manipulation, and outdoor flight.

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“…The HYFLIERS (HYbrid FLying-rollIng with-snakE-aRm robot for contact inSpection) project was initiated to investigate pipe-inspection in refineries and industrial sites in the framework of a research and innovation action of the EU H2020 program [11]. One of the solutions that is being developed in the project is a hybrid robot that can fly to the pipe, land, and move along it to reach different inspection points, using a small manipulator arm with the ultrasonic sensor to reach the different measurement points around the pipe diameter [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A benchmark mechatronics platform to assess the inspection around pipes with variable pitch quadrotor for industrial sites

et al. 2021

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This paper investigates the inspection-of-pipe topic in a new framework, by rotation around a pipe, peculiar to industrial sites and refineries. The evolution of the ultimate system requires prototype design and preliminary tests. A new benchmark has been designed and built to mimic the rotation around a pipe, with the main purpose of assessing the different types of rotors and control systems. The benchmark control system presents a mechatronics package including mechanical design and machining, electronics and motor drive, motor-blade installation, computer programming, and control implementation. The benchmark is also modular, working with two modes of one-and two-degree-of-freedom (DoF), easily interchangeable. To cover a full rotation, conventional fixed-pitch drones fail to provide negative thrusts; nonetheless, variable-pitch (VP) rotor quadcopters can produce that in both directions. A closed-loop nonlinear optimal controller is chosen for real-time communication, so-called, "the statedependent Riccati equation (SDRE)" approach. Optimal control policies are challenging for experimentation though it has been successfully done in this report. The advantage of the VP is also illustrated in a rotation plus radial motion in comparison with fixed-pitch rotors while a wind gust disturbs the inspection task. The proposed VP system compensated the disturbance while the fixed-pitch was pushed away by the wind gust. The solution methods to the SDRE were mixed, a closed-form exact solution for the one-DoF system, and a numerical one for the two-DoF. Solving the Riccati online in each time step is a critical issue that was effectively solved by the implementation approach, through online communication with MATLAB software. Both simulations and experiments have been performed along with a discussion to prove the application of VP systems in rotary-motion pipe inspection.

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MHYRO: Modular HYbrid RObot for contact inspection and maintenance in oil & gas plants

Cited by 25 publications

References 24 publications

Past, Present, and Future of Aerial Robotic Manipulators

Past, Present, and Future of Aerial Robotic Manipulators

How ornithopters can perch autonomously on a branch

A benchmark mechatronics platform to assess the inspection around pipes with variable pitch quadrotor for industrial sites

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