Millennium Projects
Technical Details
Millennium Project Number: M-2003-009
Project Title: Explorer II - A Robotic Platform for the Inspection of Unpiggable Pipelines
Project Start Date: 2003
Projected End Date: 2007
Technical Details:
Design, construct and test a modular robotic platform capable of integrating a Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) inspection tool for gas distribution and transmission pipelines. This project builds on the technology incorporated in the NYSEARCH Explorer™, the long-range untethered robot developed for the live visual inspections of gas distributions mains.
The objective of this project to develop a robotic inspection platform with a portfolio of sensors to measure corrosion and mechanical damage on internal and external surfaces of un-piggable transmission mains. The platform is based on the NYSEARCH Explorer™ design and is an untethered, modular and articulated battery powered robot system. The improved design is targeted at being applied to larger diameter and more varied pipe sizes that characterize the inventory of un-piggable mains. The system will add to the capabilities of the Explorer Platform by integrating a sensor able to provide NDE capabilities and by upgrading the platform so that it can operate at transmission pressure levels. The NDE sensor to be integrated in the platform will be developed under another on-going project.
The early stages of the project will concentrate on the preliminary design of the system and the selection of the sensor. This will be followed by the complete design of the robot platform, construction of the prototype, and integration of the sensor into the platform. The current effort is focused on designing, constructing and testing in the laboratory a platform able to negotiate all obstacles encountered in unpiggable pipeline networks. The NDE sensor will be integrated in the platform and laboratory tested. This project could significantly advance NDE inspections of unpiggable gas mains.
Also funding this project is the US Department of Energy.