Gas detection A
n inspection design method and procedure by which mobile robots can inspect large pipe structures has been demonstrated with the
successful inspection of multiple
defects on a three-meter long steel pipe using guided acoustic wave sensors. The University of Bristol team, led by
Professor Bruce Drinkwater and Professor Anthony Croxford, developed an approach that was used to review a long steel pipe with multiple defects, including circular holes with different sizes, a crack-like defect and pits, through a designed inspection path to achieve 100 per cent detection coverage for a defined reference defect. In the study, published in NDT and E International, they show how they were able to effectively examine large plate-like structures using a network of independent robots, each carrying sensors capable of both sending and receiving guided acoustic waves, working in pulse-echo mode.
This approach has the major advantage of minimising communication between robots, requires no synchronisation and raises the possibility of on-board processing to lower data transfer costs and hence reducing overall inspection expenses. The inspection was divided into a defect detection and a defect localization stage. Lead author Dr Jie Zhang explains: “There are many robotic systems with integrated ultrasound sensors used for automated inspection of pipelines from their inside to allow the pipeline operator to perform required inspections without stopping the flow of product in the pipeline. However, available systems struggle to cope with varying pipe cross-sections or network complexity, inevitably leading to pipeline disruption during inspection. This makes them suitable for specific inspections of high value assets, such as oil and gas pipelines, but not generally applicable.
Robot inspecting pipe Image credit: Dr Jie Zhang et al 56
“As the cost of mobile robots has reduced over recent years, it is increasingly possible to deploy multiple robots for a large area inspection. We take the existence of small inspection robots as its starting point, and explore how they can be used for generic monitoring of a structure. This requires inspection strategies, methodologies and assessment procedures that can be integrated with the mobile robots for accurate defect detection and localization that is low cost and efficient. “We investigate this problem by considering a network of robots, each with a single omnidirectional guided acoustic wave transducer. This configuration is considered as it is arguably the simplest, with good potential for integration in a low cost platform.” The methods employed are generally applicable to other related scenarios and allow the impact of any detection or
January 2024 Instrumentation Monthly
NETWORK OF ROBOTS MONITOR PIPES USING ACOUSTIC WAVE SENSORS
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93
