Publications / 1988 Proceedings of the 5th ISARC, Tokyo, Japan
This paper deals with a new type of automated inspection robots with the inch worm mechanism in particular, for inspecting pipelines from the outside of pipe surfaces of constructions during and after construction. Since pipelines are necessary for life lines, these are laid out in many constructions. Therefore, the inspection of pipeline is important for securing the food quality of construction. Newly developed robot, Mark III, can move vertically along the pipeline and move to the adjacent pipeline for the inspection. The sensors, infra ray proximity sensor and ultra-sonic sensors and others, are installed to detect these obstacles and can move autonomously controlled by the microprocessor, The control method of this robot can be carried out by the dual control mode proposed in this paper. Furthermore, the path planning method for the inspection robot is also shown based on the PPES (Path Planning Expert System) employing the plant map and the priority information for inspection.