In‐pipe robot for inspection and sampling tasks

Purpose – To develop an in‐pipe robot to be used for inspecting pipes that are laid underneath a waste disposal site and for sampling sewage water leaking from holes around the pipe. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a compact design of the robot's mechanical and electronic systems, and develops a simple and practical method for determining the hole position using some characteristics of this in‐pipe robot. Findings – Development of a multi‐functional in‐pipe robot with elaborate design is feasible, and multiple trapezoidal‐shaped wheels have good capabilities of providing the robot large traction force and keeping the robot horizontal in pipeline. A good mechanical structure design can greatly reduce control and computation cost by using some specific features of the object system. Research limitations/implications – This study provides guidance for future design of multi‐functional in‐pipe robots. Practical implications – The combination of a vision system and a manipulator can perform in‐pipe inspection and other different tasks. The developed robot has already been used practically by a large Japanese construction company for pipe inspection and sewage sampling. Originality/value – An in‐pipe robot is developed that cannot only implement pipe inspection, but which can also take sewage water samples. Most of such multiple‐functional small robots are still in development and rarely reported.