Journal of Shanghai University (English Edition ) ISSN 1007-6417, Vol.4, N o . 3 ( S e p .

2 0 0 0 ) , pp 235--238

A Pipeline Inspection Micro Robot Based on Screw Motion Wheels

Q I A N Jin-wu, ZHANG Ya-nan, SUN Lin-zhi, QIN Xin-jie, SHEN Yao-zong School of Electromechanical Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China
Abstract The micro robot based on screw motion wheels, which features high payload/massratio, fast and continuousmotion, adaptation to pipe diameter or roundness variations, is suitable for locomotionand inspection inside small-diameterpipelines. The robot inspection system, Tubot I, developedat Shanghai University is composed of locomotionmechanism with an inner motor, a micro CCD camera and a monitor outside the pipeline. In the paper, the kinematics and statics analyses are presented for the screw locomotionsystem of Tubot I. The moving characteristics are obtained from experiments on the robot prototype. Key words microrobot, pipe crawler, screw motion wheel, pipeline inspection of sensor and/or other apparatus needed for practical purposes. The basic requirements for locomotion inside small pipelines can be summarized as: (i) enough payload capacity, especially for upright pipelines, (ii) smooth and high locomotion speed, (iii) adaptable to minor inside obstacles, (iv) adaptable to diameter and roundness variations caused by pipe manufacturing or processing, and waste deposits or erosion as well. Because the space inside a small pipeline is quite limited, such traditional locomotion mechanisms as wheels, tracks and legs, which are widely used for ordinary mobile robots, cannot be employed directly. Thus new types of locomotion systems have to be developed. Compared with the inchworm creeping mechanism [8] , the piezoelectric driven mechanism [9] and the electromagnet driven mechanism [v] developed for small pipeline, locomotion system based on screw motion wheels is more preferable to meet the above listed requirements for practical use. This kind of locomotion was first introduced by S. Iwashina et al. in a micro mechanism equipped with an external motor and a flexible shaft to transmit the torque to the moving head [3] , and was eventually developed into an inspection robot with a micro CCD camera [1] Inspired by the driving head based on screw motion wheels, the first generation of inspection robot, Tubot I was developed at Shanghai University. Tubot I consists of a locomotion system, a micro CCD camera, and a Received Jun. 7, 1999; Revised Jan. 20, 2000 Supported by National High-Tech R & D Program in China(863512-9704-26,863-512-9804-18) CRT monitor, as shown in Fig. 1. The locomotion system of Tubot I is composed of a I)C motor with a gear reducer, a driving mechanism in

1 Introduction
Locomotion and inspection inside small pipelines have become a hot topic for micro-robot research and development in the last decade, since micro pipe robots have potential applications in such areas as nuclear power stations, utility piping engineering, chemical plants and refinery industry. Visual Inspection Technologies Inc. in the U . S . has developed a robotic crawler ROVVER 5.0 200 with a CCD camera, which can pass through 2inch-diameter horizontal pipelines and is commercially available It]. The National R & D Project on Micromachine Technology in Japan, which began in I991 and whose interim reports were evaluated in 1996, includes an experimental system for internal tube inspection of blockage and other situations encountered within a tube [2]. Several institutions in Japan also reported the development of in-pipe micro robots and micro sensors for locomotion and inspection in pipelines with diameters of 2 0 - 5 0 mm [3-61. In China, some research and development activities on micro robbts in pipelines have been initiated and sponsored by National High-Tech R & D Program [v] and National Natural Science Foundation as well in the past years, and progresses have been made as anticipated. The locomotion system is a major part of a pipeline inspection robot, which carries the weight of some kind

236 front of the motor-reducer complex, and a posture-holding mechanism with three wheels connected to the back of the motor. Six driving wheels are pivoted evenly on two wheel frames at a small inclined angle to the pipeline axis. These wheels roll along the inner surface of the pipeline following screw trajectories as the motor rotates. The posture-holding mechanism is to prevent the motor housing from reverse rotation. An external controller adjusts the speed and the motion direction for the robot. As the motor is powered on, the robot can move freely along the pipeline.

Journal of Shanghai University

wheel with an inclined angle 0 can be found in Fig. 2

(b).

I
I N. IF.

I I I

N/C C

. v O~m ' Mm Z/

I i: I
robot

OD
(a) Forcesacted on mechanism F.

g
monitor
camera

F (b) Side viewof wheel A Force analysis of moving mechanism

Fig. l

The system layout of Tubotl

Fig.2

The output of the CCD camera is the TV signal in PAL system, which is directly coupled to a monitor. The sensing area of the CCD camera is 3 . 9 9 x 3 . 9 9 mm 2 , with a resolution of 369 x 287 pixels. This paper focuses on kinematics and statics analyses of the robotic locomotion system based on screw motion wheels. Experimental results of the robot inside 38 mm pipeline are also outlined. All of these provide a sound analytical and design reference for further development of the next generation of inspection robot for 20 mm pipelines Ill] .

In Fig. 2, M y denotes the frictional torque of the wheel rolling on the pipe, and M , , the torque output of the motor-reducer complex. W denotes the whole gravitational force of both the robot itself and the payload it might carry, F frictional force from the pipe wall along the rolling direction, F , the frictional force from the pipe wall along the axis of the pipe caused by W. While in the state of maximum payload,
Fa---~ Famin = f N ,

where f and N denote the sliding frictional coefficient and the normal reaction force respectively. Assuming the driving wheels are identical and have the same forces acted on them, from statics analysis the following equation

2 Analyses of Driving Torque, Payload and Velocity

2.1 Driving torque and payload

To simplify, only a portion of the actuation mechanism, which includes three wheels and a frame structure to hold them, is studied for the force analysis. The forces acted on this portion of the mechanism are depicted in Fig. 2 ( a ) . More details about the single driving

W .... = kF,,m, x - kFsin 0 = k f N - kFsin 0

(1)

is obtained, where k denotes the number of driving wheels, and 0 the inclined angle of driving wheels. In the force diagram of a single driving wheel, as shown in Fig. 3, F~, Fy, and F, are three force corn-

Vol.4

No.3

Sep.2000

QIAN J.W. : A Pipeline Inspection Micro Robot Based on Screw Motion Wheels

237

ponents acted by the wheel pivot shaft and tional torque by that shaft. z
F,

Md the

fric-

f~=2, f2=0.15,

f=0.5,

N = 3 . 7 7 N,

F, & ,4 X

where the last parameter is determined by experimental trial. Using Eq. ( 3 ) , (4) and ( 5 ) , we can obtain the maximum gravitational force the robot can withstand, the required output torque and the robot velocity respectively: Wmax=7.91 N, Mr, = 0 . 197 N ' m , v = 2 3 2 mm/min.

3 Experiment Results and Discussions

F Fig.3 Forcesacted on a single driving wheel The prototype of the robotic locomotion system developed is shown in Fig. 4. It is tested in a 38 ram-diameter glass pipeline under different payloads. Some of the results and discussions are listed below.

Analyzing the two statics equilibrium equations

Y],MAz= 0 ,
F = N(2/1 +

~ Y = 1,

the frictional force

f2d2)

(2)

can be obtained, where f l is the rolling friction coefficient between the wheel and the pipe, f2 the sliding friction coefficient between the wheel hub and the pivot shaft, d2 diameter of the pivot shaft, d diameter of the wlaeel. Substituting Eq. ( 2 ) into Eq. ( 1 ) , the maximum gravitational force that the locomotion system can withstand is solved.

Wr.ax =

kN[f-

(2fx + f z d 2 ) sin 0 ]. d

(3)

In a similar way, the required output torque of the motor-reducer complex is also obtained. M= = kcos 0

(2fL+f2dz)-~-fxN

(4)

where D is the diameter of the pipeline. 2 . 2 Locomotion velocity In an ideal situation where the driving wheels roll on the inner surface of the pipe without slippage, every point in the actuation apparatus moves in some theoretical screw trajectory. Thus, the velocity of the robot is

Fig.4 photograph of the in-pipe robot

( 1 ) The robotic locomotion system weighs 142 g. The maximum dynamic payload it can carry inside a vertical pipeline is 210 g, while the robot's upward velocity approaches zero. The maximum static payload is 1350 g, which seems much greater than the dynamic payload. (2) In a horizontal pipeline, the robot carrying no payload can move forward at 240 ram/rain and backward at 205 ram/rain. The difference between forward and backward velocities is caused by the contact force variations of the posture-holding wheels from the pipe

v=nn(D-d)tg O.

(5)

2 . 3 Calculation example For the locomotion system with six driving wheels moving in a 38 mm-diameter pipeline, the following parameters are given:
n = 9 rev/min, d 2 = 2 ram, d = 7 . 4 mm, 0 = 15 ,

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Journal of Shanghai University

surface in different moving directions. Namely, when the robot moves forward, the frictional forces acting on the posture-holding wheels are directed backwards, causing the normal force components of contact reaction from the pipe wall to increase slightly. While the robot moves backward, the frictional forces that are directed forwards cause the normal force components of contact reaction to decrease. (3) In a vertical pipeline, the robot without payload runs at 160 m m / m i n moving up the pipe and at 278 m m / m i n moving down the pipe. T h e velocity difference in the two directions is caused by the slight slippage of the driving wheels rolling upon the pipe wall. (4) T h e upward velocity of the robot is inversely proportional to the payload it carries, while the downward velocity is positively proportional to the payload. Details of the relationship of the velocity to the payload are depicted in Fig. 5. (5) Minor pipe roundness variations ( 5 % ) and diameter variations ( 3 % ) have little effect on robot running speed. In order to make this kind of robot more practical and useful, more elastic elements as springs are necessary to be merged into the driving mechanism. T h u s the r o b o t ' s adaptation to variations in pipeline diameter and roundness can be increased further, which is the general case for pipelines with bends.

ture-holding wheels and an internal motor is feasible and practical for locomotion and inspection inside smalt pipelines. This kind of locomotion is characterized by high payload/mass ratio, fast and continuous motion, adaptation to pipe diameter or roundness variations. T h e locomotion velocity of T u b o t I is not so high because the motor selected is from the lab shelf only. for rapid acquisition. Better performance has been realized in the development of the next robot, T u b o t I I, aimed at inspecting 20 mm pipelines [111.

References
Visual Inspection Technologies Inc, http://delta, brtinc. com/scripts/vit/proddetail, asp?itemnum = 6,1997 [2] Yanagisawa Y. , R&D issues and status of national micromachine project, Proc. o f China-Japan Joint Workshop on Micromachine/MEMS, Beijing, China, Sep. 2 9 - 30, 1997:38-41 [3] lwashina S. , Hayashi I. , et al. , Development of in-pipe operation micro robots, Proc. 5th Int. Syrup. on Micro Machine and Human Sciences, 1994 : 41 - 45 [4] Suzumori K., Koga A . , et a l . , Integrated flexibIe microactuator systems, Robotica, 1996, 14(Suppl. ) : 493 498 [5] l--lamasakiY., et a l . , A multi-layer eddy current micro sen~r for nondestructive inspection of small diameter, Journal o f Precision Engineering, 1996, 62 (3) : 359 362 (in Japanese) [6] Goto H. , et al. , l)evelopment of a scanning type miniature two-dimensional image sensor, Journal o f Precision Engineering, 1997, 63(2): 218-222 (in Japanese) [7] Gong Z. , Tan M. , et al. , Some of the research and development on micro robotics and systems in China, IAPR 2nd Int. Workshop on Micro Robotics and Systems, Beijing, China, Oct. 22 -- 23 ,1998 : 1 - 1 3 [8] Takahashi M., Hayashi I., et a l . , The development of an in-pipe microrobot applying the motion of an earthworm, Journal o f Precision Engineering, 1995, 61 ( 1 ) : 9(1 - 94 (in Japanese) [9] Kurahashi T. and Kawahara N. , R & D status of wireless micromaehine in pipes, Proc. o f the China-Japan Joint Workshop on Micromachine/MEMS, Beijing, China, Sep.29--30, I997:71 - 74 [10] Hayashi I, lwatsuki N., and Morikawa K., An in-pipe operation microrobot driven based on the principle of screw, Proceedings o f International Symposium on Micromechatronics and Human Science, 1997: 125- 129 [11] Qian J., Cheng W., Sheng L., et a l . , Toward the robotic inspection for small pipelines, 2000 A S M E Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, July 2 3 - 2 7 , Seattle, Washington (to appear) [1]

3s I
,-. 3001 J ~.~ 250

200
~'~ 150'
O

-, upwards -- downwards

;>

I00

50 00 0.5 1.0 1.

Fig.5

Payload(N) The chart of payload vs upward and downward velocity of the robot

( 6 ) In order to make the robot move freely and prevent the housing of the motor from rotation, the actuation torque at the front and the holding torque at the rear must match to some extent. in the posture holding mechanism. This can partly be achieved by adjusting a nut against a compression spring

Conclusions
A robotic system based on screw motion wheels, pos-