Recent Patents on Petroleum Pipe Inspection Gauge in China

Background: With a great growing demand for petroleum, the amount of petroleum pipe is also increasing, and petroleum pipe blockage has become a severe problem in China. It is necessary to clean and inspect the petroleum pipe regularly. But the current petroleum pipe in-spection gauge can very easily block the petroleum pipe ,while the cleaning efficiency is poor. Therefore, the anti-blocking capacity and high-efficiency cleaning ability of the petroleum pipe inspection gauge has been paid more and more attention. Objective: By analyzing and discussing the patents of petroleum pipe inspection gauges in China in recent years, the future design of petro-leum pipe inspection gauge has been provided and some valuable conclusions have been summarized to solve the current problems of pipe inspection gauge. Methods: This paper studied and compared various representative patents relevant to the petroleum pipe inspection gauge. Results: By summarizing a large number of patents about petroleum pipe inspection gauges in China, the anti-blocking capacity or cleaning efficiency of those patents are analyzed and compared, and the further development tendency of petroleum pipe inspection gauges has been discussed. Conclusion: The problems of easy blocking for petroleum pipe inspection gauge and poor cleaning efficiency are still exist. It is still the main development trend for the study on anti-blocking capacity and the improvement of cleaning efficiency. The future work can be focused on pigging technical cooperation, new materials, power source and intelligent control.

Theoretical and Experimental Investigations into a Crawling Robot Propelled by Piezoelectric Material

Conventional motors with complicated electromagnetic structures are difficult to miniaturise for millimetre- and centimetre-sized robots. Instead, small-scale robots are actuated using a variety of functional materials. We proposed a novel robot propelled by a piezoelectric ceramic in this work. The robot advances due to the asymmetric friction created by the spikes on the surface. The structural modelling was completed, static and dynamic models were established to predict the moving characteristics, the prototype was built using three dimensional (3D) printing technology, and the models were evaluated via experiments. Compared with conventional inchworm-type robots, the proposed robot is superior in simple structure because the clamping components are replaced by spikes with asymmetric friction. Compared with SMA (shape memory alloy) actuating inchworm-type robots, it has a faster velocity with higher resolution. Meanwhile, the components are printed through an additive manufacturing process that is convenient and avoids assembly errors. This design could make contributions to many areas, such as pipe inspection, earthquake rescue, and medicine delivery.

The Redesign and Implementation of a Reliable Robotic Pipe Inspection System

<p>Robotic units used in pipe inspection are expensive to purchase and repair. Many companies do not offer long term support for the repair and maintenance of their robotic units. Consequently Associated Environmental Services Limited (AES), a Wellington based pipe inspection company approached Victoria University to facilitate the repair of a non-functional system. As a result this Masters project aims to design and implement a reliable pipe inspection system for use by AES. This thesis outlines and discusses the circuit boards and software designed for such a robotic unit. A reliable graphical user interface and internal circuitry for the robot was designed and is also presented.</p>

The Redesign and Implementation of a Reliable Robotic Pipe Inspection System

<p>Robotic units used in pipe inspection are expensive to purchase and repair. Many companies do not offer long term support for the repair and maintenance of their robotic units. Consequently Associated Environmental Services Limited (AES), a Wellington based pipe inspection company approached Victoria University to facilitate the repair of a non-functional system. As a result this Masters project aims to design and implement a reliable pipe inspection system for use by AES. This thesis outlines and discusses the circuit boards and software designed for such a robotic unit. A reliable graphical user interface and internal circuitry for the robot was designed and is also presented.</p>

Iterative Approach on Redesigning and Construction of a Pipe Inspection Robot

<p>A pipe inspection robot is a device that is inserted into pipes to check for obstructions or damage. These robots are traditionally manufactured offshore, are extremely expensive, and are often not adequately supported in the event of malfunction. This had resulted in Associated Environmental Services Limited, a New Zealand utiliser of this equipment, facing significant periods of down-time as they wait for their robots to be repaired. Recently, they were informed that several of their robots were no longer supported. At their instigation, this project was conceived to redesign the electronics and control system of one of these pipe inspection robots, utilising the existing mechanical platform. Requirements for the robot were that it must operate reliably in confined, dark and wet environments, and provide a human user with a digital video feed of the internal status of the pipes. This robot should, as much as possible, incorporate off-the-shelf components, facilitating cheap, and potentially on-site repair. This project details the redesign and construction of such a robot. It employs three electronic boards integrated with the mechanical components and provides video feedback via a custom graphical user interface. Although at the prototype stage, the electronic redesign has been successful, with a cost of less than a tenth of the original robot purchase price.</p>

Iterative Approach on Redesigning and Construction of a Pipe Inspection Robot

<p>A pipe inspection robot is a device that is inserted into pipes to check for obstructions or damage. These robots are traditionally manufactured offshore, are extremely expensive, and are often not adequately supported in the event of malfunction. This had resulted in Associated Environmental Services Limited, a New Zealand utiliser of this equipment, facing significant periods of down-time as they wait for their robots to be repaired. Recently, they were informed that several of their robots were no longer supported. At their instigation, this project was conceived to redesign the electronics and control system of one of these pipe inspection robots, utilising the existing mechanical platform. Requirements for the robot were that it must operate reliably in confined, dark and wet environments, and provide a human user with a digital video feed of the internal status of the pipes. This robot should, as much as possible, incorporate off-the-shelf components, facilitating cheap, and potentially on-site repair. This project details the redesign and construction of such a robot. It employs three electronic boards integrated with the mechanical components and provides video feedback via a custom graphical user interface. Although at the prototype stage, the electronic redesign has been successful, with a cost of less than a tenth of the original robot purchase price.</p>

Design and Development of Pipe-inspection robot with vision 360°

A pipe is a most commonly used product in the daily operations of industrial plants. Boiler pipes and inner ribs reduce pollution, allowing industrial plants to be both environmentally friendly and economically efficient. However, if these pipes are damaged, it will cause a huge problem for humans and ecological imbalances. Therefore, an inside inspection of a pipe is most necessary, regular duty being conducted by a surveyor of the plant. Pipe inspection includes checking for cracks, defects, leaks, corrosion and blockages in a region. However, an individual cannot do this inspection due to life-risk impact, and there is a necessity for human intelligence. This proposed robot design helps inspect a portion of the building in less time than the entire vision. In addition, the view can be recorded and easily the damaged or blocked portions of the pipe.