Design and Analysis of Liquid-Filled Pipeline Inspection Robot

With the rapid development of manufacturing industry, the prognostics and health management (PHM) of pipeline transportation plays a vital role in different industries and our daily life. Improving the reliability of pipeline transportation through traditional means such as manual checks and long-term fixed-point observation is difficult. In this paper, we provide a robot tailored for internal inspection within liquid-filled pipelines, addressing the current engineering issues concerning the safety of pipeline usage. The robot can be remotely operated through a control cabinet, cable retracting device, and armored optical cable to inspect specific conditions inside liquid-filled pipeline. It is characterized by its ability to minimize personal injury, assess the operational status of the pipeline, and offer a cost-effective solution. This paper focuses on the total schematic design of the robot and the structural and mechanics performance analysis. Then, a prototype robot for liquid-filled pipeline inspection is built up. Ultimately, the performance of the prototype robot is validated through a series of tests, including pipeline passability, pressure resistance, and navigation speed in water. The results indicate that the robot's performance meets the design requirements, which can enhance the accuracy of PHM and reliability of pipeline transportation.