Design of a robotic water-pipe rehabilitation

Abstract

Corrosion in water pipeline causes leak and forms tubercle at the vicinity of leaks. Various in-pipe robots have been developed in recent years for locomotion and inspection along the pipeline. Not much focus is put on in-pipe operations such as pipe maintenance and rehabilitation. This thesis presents an in-pipe robotic system for minimal particle contamination obstruction removal operation of corroded water pipes. It proposes a robotic system with a Manipulation Module and a Compliant Surface Adaptation Module. The Manipulation Module contains a 4-Degree of Freedom robotic manipulator that is able to remove tubercle in 102mm diameter pipes. The Compliant Surface Adaptation Module contains optimized designs to enclose a watertight volume on a macroscopically rough surface. This robotic platform is the first in-pipe robot designated to rehabilitate water pipe with minimal contamination.