Surface stabilization of platform for a Pipe Inspection Robot

Abstract

This project will discuss the surface stabilization problem of platform for pipe inspection robot. In this scenario the robot platform will be actively maintained at a predetermined plane, in the presence of load or disturbance at the surface. The robot used an accelerometer sensor to measure the inclination surface of the plane. This sensor will detect dual-axis angle of inclinations, i.e., X and Y axis. With the reading output from the sensor, the position of the lowest surface point and the height from the lowest position will be determined. The robot is actuated by a combination three DC-motors with gear module and encoder feedback. Each motor is located circumferentially at 1200 to each other. The gear module produced the hold torque required by the robot in order to crawl at certain surface gradient, either forward or reverse direction. A pipe inspection system was designed and developed with robust characteristics. Its main objective is to acquire images and record motion inside the pipe, and store the data in a host PC for future analysis.