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Novel Modular Self-Reconfigurable Robot for Pipe and Plant Inspection

Authors:
Sergio Leggieri
Carlo Canali
Ferdinando Cannella
Darwin Caldwell

Keywords: inspection robot; modular robots; self-reconfigurable mobile robot

Abstract:
In the last decades, the trend of replacing humans with robots has increased enormously, especially in repetitive or dangerous tasks such as inspection and maintenance. Various inspection robots have been developed so far, but usually those systems are designed for addressing very specific operations. The spread of such devices is mainly limited by the lack in adaptability to different tasks, and by the design restrictions of these robots. Instead, modular and self-reconfigurable robots have proven superior performance in different scenarios. Here, the idea of developing a modular, self-reconfigurable robot for inspection is discussed. The system consists of two modular vehicles with docking modules for reassembling into a snake robot. Thanks to its structure, it overcomes the challenges posed during pipe and plant inspections.

Pages: 36 to 40

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2020

Publication date: September 27, 2020

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-3913

ISBN: 978-1-61208-787-0

Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Dates: from September 27, 2020 to October 1, 2020