Control circuit in an in-pipe wireless micro inspection robot

Abstract

We have been developing an in-pipe wireless micro robot for inspection on inner surface of pipes. The robot consists of a CCD camera, a locomotive device, a system control circuit and wireless energy supply and communication devices. The robot moves in a 10 mm diameter pipe without wire and observes the inner surface of the pipe using the installed CCD camera. We have developed a compact control circuit which controls all the devices installed in the robot by commands from outside and transmits the image data from the CCD camera. As for the control circuit, the power consumption and the size are greatly restricted in order to be installed in the robot. In order to reduce the size of the circuit, we have newly developed an image data communication LSI based on a new architecture. The LSI is made of 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS technology and has the size of 3.9 mm by 3.9 mm. To make the control circuit compact, we used a flip chip assembly for the LSI and eight more ICs in the robot. Through a fabricated prototype of the micro robot, we have successfully confirmed the wireless image data communication of 2.27 frames per second and control of the robot by microwave technology.