Kinematic Analysis and Locomotion Strategy of a Pipe Inspection Robot Concept for Operation in Active Pipelines

A robot capable of operating in active pipelines would be of great commercial and industrial benefit. This paper outlines the requirements for such a robot and considers the advantages and disadvantages of existing systems. A new design for an inchworm robot based on the Gough-Stewart parallel platform is presented. The use of inchworm locomotion keeps the control system relatively simple, whilst the use of the Gough-Stewart platform allows the robot to benefit from the accuracy, rigidity and speed of parallel robots and provides a flexible base for any manipulators the robot may use. The design aims to provide minimal resistance to fluid flow by providing a low frontal area and by distributing the body of the robot towards the edge of the pipe, where the flow is slowest. An analysis of the robot’s degrees of freedom, a derivation of the robot’s inverse kinematics equations, and a static force analysis are presented along with a description of the robot’s proposed locomotion algorithm.