A spherical robot for pipeline inspection

Abstract

The invention discloses a spherical robot for pipeline detection, and belongs to the technical field of pipeline detection robots. A relevant sensor can be carried into a complex pipeline for replacing manual operation. The robot comprises a left hemisphere, a middle connecting piece, a right hemisphere and a control component. The left hemisphere is connected with the right hemisphere through themiddle connecting piece, the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere are of the same structure and are symmetrical about the middle connecting piece, and the middle connecting piece is provided withthe control component. The spherical robot has the advantages of being simple and compact in structure, flexible in motion in a pipeline, simple in movement model, and small in contact section area with the interior of the pipeline, dual gears and racks are adopted for driving according to the internal driving way, the two gears are precisely engaged with two inner gear rings fixed to the inner surface of a spherical shell, the defect that a conventional spherical robot rolls on the spherical inner wall through wheels, thereof being likely to slide is avoided, and the spherical robot has theadvantages of being accurate in transmission ratio and accurate in speed control.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a spherical robot used for pipeline detection, belonging to the technical field of pipeline detection robots. Background technique [0002] As we all know, with the development of the transportation industry, the demand for oil and natural gas is increasing, and the transportation mode of oil and natural gas is mainly pipeline transportation, which leads to more dense distribution of pipelines and more and more distances for pipeline transportation. long. With the increase of the service life of the pipeline, various failures will occur. For example, the leakage caused by the corrosion of the internal medium, or the traumatic rupture of the pipeline due to the impact of external force, etc. Because the medium stored in the pipeline is generally flammable and explosive, once a leak occurs, it will cause serious consequences. Therefore, it is very necessary to regularly inspect the pipelines. However, since these pipelines are...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The wheeled robot has a simple movement mode and is easy to control. It is generally suitable for environments with flat terrain. When driving in a pipeline environment, because the inner wall of the pipeline is arc-shaped, it is easy to cause the robot’s attitude to change and tip over, especially when encountering a bend. Poor passability when connecting with fork pipe

Although the worm-type crawling robot has good passability and turning performance in the pipeline, due to its many degrees of freedom of movement, the required driving torque is large, the movement speed is slow, and the work efficiency for pipeline inspection is low.

In addition, the above two pipeline inspection robots also have the problems of high space ratio, many contact points with the pipeline, and large contact area, which are easy to interfere or damage the internal environment of the pipeline; moreover, due to their complex shapes, these two robots are not well sealed , it is easy to cause the internal mechanism and sensors of the robot to be directly exposed to the pipeline environment, which affects safety

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