A wheeled multijoint robot for autonomous sewer inspection

In this paper a concept for a wheeled, multijoint robot able to operate in sewage systems is presented. The robot should work in an autonomous way. This concerns power supply, control and information processing. The cable-free navigation and the multijoint redundant construction of the robot enable higher mobility in sewage systems. In contrast to present systems, the robot should be able to avoid and overcome small obstacles, e.g socket displacements, holes or sediments, and to pass junctions and curves. In the following the results of a feasibility study are described in which the state of the art in sewer inspection robot as well as first experiments for the development of such a system is shown.