An Optimal Design of a Flexible Piping Inspection Robot

This article presents an optimization approach for the design of a piping inspection robot. A rigid bio-inspired piping inspection robot that moves like a caterpillar was designed and developed at LS2N, France. By the addition of tensegrity mechanisms between the motor modules, the mobile robot becomes flexible to pass through the bends. However, the existing motor units prove to be oversized for passing through pipe bends at 90°. Thus, three cascading optimization problems are presented in this article to determine the sizing of robot assembly that can overcome such pipe bends. The first problem deals with the identification of design parameters of the tensegrity mechanism based on static stability. Followed by that, in the second problem, the optimum design parameters of the robot modules are determined for the robot assembly without the presence of leg mechanisms. The third problem deals with the determination of the size of the leg mechanism for the results of the two previous optimization problems. A digital model of the optimized robot assembly is then realized using CAD software.

[1]  Damien Chablat,et al.  Singularity and workspace analysis of 3-SPS-U and 4-SPS-U tensegrity mechanisms , 2020 .

[2]  Werner Neubauer.  A spider-like robot that climbs vertically in ducts or pipes , 1994, Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS'94).

[3]  Jianhua Zhang,et al.  Robot path planning in uncertain environment using multi-objective particle swarm optimization , 2013, Neurocomputing.

[4]  Jun Okamoto,et al.  Autonomous system for oil pipelines inspection , 1999 .

[5]  Benoît Furet,et al.  Workpiece placement optimization for machining operations with a KUKA KR270-2 robot , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[6]  Damien Chablat,et al.  Prototyping a piping inspection robot using a BeagleBone black board , 2019 .

[7]  Frédéric Boyer,et al.  Multi-Objective Design Optimization of the Leg Mechanism for a Piping Inspection Robot , 2014, ArXiv.

[8]  Damien Chablat,et al.  Design and Analysis of a Tensegrity Mechanism for a Bio-Inspired Robot , 2019 .

[9]  Damien Chablat,et al.  Numerical and Experimental Validation of the Prototype of a Bio-Inspired Piping Inspection Robot , 2019, Robotics.

[10]  Damien Chablat,et al.  Multiobjective Design Optimization of 3–PRR Planar Parallel Manipulators , 2011 .

[11]  Takeo Kanade,et al.  A Three-Wheeled Self-Adjusting Vehicle in a Pipe, FERRET-1 , 1987 .

[12]  H. T. Roman,et al.  Pipe crawling inspection robots: an overview , 1992 .

[13]  K. Sivakumar,et al.  Global Product Development , 2010 .

[14]  M. Horodinca,et al.  1 A SIMPLE ARCHITECTURE FOR IN-PIPE INSPECTION ROBOTS , 2002 .

[15]  Comparing Heuristic and Deterministic Approaches to Optimise Mechanical Parameters of Biopolymer Composite Materials , 2009 .

[16]  L. Meirovitch,et al.  Fundamentals of Vibrations , 2000 .

[17]  Maki K. Habib.  Bioinspiration and Robotics Walking and Climbing Robots , 2007 .

[18]  Hyoukryeol Choi,et al.  In-pipe inspection robot system with active steering mechanism , 2000, Proceedings. 2000 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2000) (Cat. No.00CH37113).

[19]  Xin-She Yang,et al.  Metaheuristic Optimization , 2011, Scholarpedia.

[20]  Toshio Fukuda,et al.  Rubber gas actuator driven by hydrogen storage alloy for in-pipe inspection mobile robot with flexible structure , 1989, Proceedings, 1989 International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[21]  Damien Chablat,et al.  Dynamic Model of a Bio-Inspired Robot for Piping Inspection , 2019 .

[22]  R. Venkata Rao,et al.  A new optimization algorithm for solving complex constrained design optimization problems , 2017 .

[23]  Mei Zhan,et al.  The interactive effects of wrinkling and other defects in thin-walled tube NC bending process , 2007 .