PIPE INSPECTION | MACHINERY
Finding fault: latest in pipe inspection
Pipe inspection technologies ensure that leaks and other faults are identified early – while other forms of testing keep a close eye on manufactured pipe quality. Lou Reade reports
Plastic pipe does not suffer corrosion, and the latest material grades can ensure a very long service life – but all the same it is important to be able to fix problems quickly when they occur. Festo, a major German engineering company, has developed an autonomous underwater robot with a ‘fin drive’ that can be deployed within pipe systems.
Its BionicFinWave was seen at the Achema
exhibition earlier this year, negotiating its way through a system of transparent acrylic pipes. Festo says the concept could be further developed for tasks such as inspection, measurement or data acquisition in water and wastewater technology – or other areas of the process industry. The design was inspired by the “undulating fin movements” of marine animals such as cuttlefish.
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The cuttlefish uses its longitudinal fins to generate a continuous wave along the entire length of its body. This forces the water backwards, to produce a forward thrust. “The BionicFinWave also uses this principle to manoeuvre itself forwards or backwards,” says Festo. This slow, precise motion causes less turbulence in
the water than a conventional screw propulsion drive, says the company. As it moves through the tube system, the robot can communicate with the outside world via radio, and transmit data such as tempera- ture and pressure sensor readings to a tablet. Its two lateral fins of the 370mm long robot are moulded from flexible silicone, and each is attached to nine small lever arms with a deflection angle of 45 degrees which are driven by two servo motors in the body of the robot.
Main image: At Achema, Festo’s BionicFinWave was seen negotiating its way through a system of transparent acrylic pipes
� October 2018 | PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION 13
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