Plant inspection and diagnosis robot for the detection of a faulty machine part by GA control

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop the basic theories and techniques for a plant inspection and diagnosis robot (IDR). The robot dealt with in this study will work in a large scale unmanned plant or a place with dangerous environment. It has the ability to monitor the condition of plant machinery with only few sensors, and quickly to discriminate machine failures, in order to guarantee both the quality and quantity of production against accident. The paper proposes a method for detecting a faulty part of a plant machine by the robot. A manipulator installed on the IDR is controlled by genetic algorithms (GA). A microphone installed on the manipulator tip is used to detect a failure signal. It is navigated to the nearby front of the faulty part by sound information and GA control. The method has been proved by practical applications.