Magnetic Tracked Robot for Internal Pipe Inspection

Abstract

This work presents a tracked robot for tele-operated inspection of the interior of variable size, multi-path and non-planar ferromagnetic pipe installations, addressing the traversability problem of unpiggable pipelines. Our main contribution is a novel flexible per-segment-cambering track, fitted with permanent rare-earth magnets. This track is designed to improve maneuverability over standard magnetic tracked wall climbers. Experiments show that, using these magnetic adhesive tracks, the robot can traverse inclined and vertical segments on the pipes’ inner surface, allowing navigation around complex pipe geometries including vertical climb, horizontal pipe diameter changes and sharp turns.