Autonomous sewer inspection with a wheeled, multiarticulated robot

This paper presents the concept of a wheeled, multiarticulated robot which is able to operate autonomously in sewerage systems. In contrast to current systems, this robot operates wireless which significantly increases the range of application areas. To manage the robot in the hazardous environment of sewers, the robot has to be designed very carefully. The mechanical design and the control system must satisfy severe requirements for reliability to allow autonomous operation even in sewerage systems. In the following, a wheeled, multiarticulated robot is described which has the ability to cross obstacles and junctions and possesses a modular control system in order to manage a system which is highly redundant. The description is focused on the design of the robot and its control hardware and gives a brief overview of the integration into a sewerage information system.