In-channel inspection robot self-adaptive to pipe diameter of pipeline

Abstract

The invention discloses an in-channel inspection robot capable of self-adapting to the pipe diameter of a pipeline, which comprises a reducing expansion module, a control and detection module and a reducing following module which are connected with one another through flexible couplings. Self-adaptive reducing mechanisms in the front-end reducing expansion module and the rear-end reducing following module can perform self-adaptive adjustment according to the pipe diameter of the inner wall of the pipeline, and the middle-section control and detection module can perform detection and visual observation on the inner wall of the pipeline through a carried detection device such as a camera. A double-variable-diameter structure is adopted, so that the device can adapt to environments in different pipe diameters, different medium pipes and various pipelines, can be suitable for routing inspection of the pipelines with various pipe diameters, and is simple in overall structure, easy to machine and assemble, high in device reliability, capable of safely and normally running for a long time and high in practicability. The pipeline inspection device can be widely applied to inspection of various normal-pressure, under-pressure, reducing, bending and multi-medium pipelines, the pipeline inspection efficiency can be effectively improved, and the cost of repeatedly developing the inspection device for specific pipeline inner diameters is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of pipeline robots, and in particular relates to an in-pipe inspection robot capable of self-adapting to pipeline diameters. Background Art

[0002] Pipeline transportation has the advantages of large transportation volume, good reliability and good safety. It is known as the five major transportations together with road transportation, water transportation, railway transportation and air transportation. As an important means of transporting gas and fluid resources, pipeline transportation has the advantages of huge transportation volume, continuous transportation, low cost and low environmental interference, and plays an important role in energy transportation and resource transportation. At present, the domestic pipeline layout has basically formed a pipeline network layout that connects overseas and covers the whole country. However, it still faces problems such as small overall scale, unreasonable layout structure and inadequate system and mechanism. At present, the main transportation media of my country's oil and gas pipeline network are gas and liquid. The gas medium is mainly natural gas and other flammable gases, while the liquid medium is mainly flammable fluids such as petroleum. Among them, the liquid pipeline network also undertakes the task of transporting corrosive fluids. Due to the diversity of transportation media and the long-term nature of the transportation process, the daily operation and maintenance of the oil and gas pipeline network is particularly important. At present, the operation and maintenance of my country's oil and gas pipelines mostly adopt manual inspection methods. However, once the inner wall of the pipeline needs to be inspected from the inside, the manual inspection method is only applicable to large-diameter pipelines that people can pass directly through, so it has great engineering application limitations. On the other hand, most of the existing pipelines in my country have multiple bends, and the diameters of the pipelines vary widely. At the same time, some single lines also have special variable-diameter pipelines. The pipeline robot developed for a straight pipe or a curved pipe cannot be applied to complex pipelines where straight pipes and curved pipes coexist and the pipes have variable diameters. The applicable scenarios are limited, so the inspection efficiency is low and the inspection cost is high, which cannot meet the modern industrial needs of high efficiency, universality, and unmanned operation.

[0003] With the continuous development of control technology and the application of artificial intelligence technology in industry, a few pipeline operators have begun to use robots equipped with detection equipment to operate and maintain pipelines. Among them, the pipeline detection robots commonly used in engineering can be divided into two categories, one is the in-pipe inspection robot, and the other is the out-pipe inspection robot. Secondly, according to their functions, they can also be divided into pipeline cleaning robots and pipeline detection robots. The former is responsible for removing residual waste inside or outside the operation and maintenance pipeline, and the latter is mainly responsible for leak detection and corrosion detection of the pipeline. The oil and gas pipeline adaptive robot technology is a combination of multiple technologies such as robotics, computer vision, machine learning, and big data analysis. It uses visual sensors and machine learning algorithms to detect defects and faults in oil and gas pipelines, and locates and repairs them through robotics technology.

[0004] At present, oil and gas pipeline adaptive robot technology has been widely used in many countries and regions. Studies have shown that oil and gas pipeline adaptive robot technology can effectively improve the safety and stability of oil and gas pipelines, reduce the cost of monitoring and maintenance, and improve monitoring efficiency. At the same time, oil and gas pipeline adaptive robots can also realize real-time monitoring and data analysis of pipelines, diagnose and predict faults and defects of oil and gas pipelines, and provide technical support for long-term maintenance and management of pipelines. In the future, oil and gas pipeline adaptive robot technology will be more widely used and promoted, and will continue to be improved and improved. It is expected that with the continuous development of technology, oil and gas pipeline adaptive robots will become an important tool for oil and gas pipeline monitoring and maintenance. Summary of the invention

[0005] In order to solve the shortcomings of the prior art and achieve the purpose of pipeline inspection in complex pipeline conditions such as bends and variable diameter sections, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions: The invention discloses an in-pipe inspection robot capable of adaptively adjusting the pipe diameter, comprising a variable diameter extension module, a control and detection module, and a variable diameter following module connected in sequence, wherein the variable diameter extension module comprises a variable diameter disk, the variable diameter disk comprises a slideway disk, a driving foot, a slider, a cam-like slideway disk, and a rigid coupling, and the control and detection module comprises a rotary drive motor; the driving foot is fixedly connected to the slider, and the slider is slidably connected to the slideway on the radial direction of the slideway disk and the slideway on the cam-like slideway disk at the same time, the slideway of the slideway disk is arranged at an angle to the slideway of the cam-like slideway disk, and the rotary drive motor is connected to the rigid coupling through a hole shaft; the rotary drive motor drives the cam-like slideway disk to rotate through the rigid coupling, and drives the driving foot corresponding to the slider to extend and retract radially along the slideway disk, thereby achieving the purpose of variable diameter.

[0006] Furthermore, a protrusion is provided on the slider, the slider is slidably connected to the slideway on the slideway plate, and the protrusion is slidably connected to the slideway on the cam-like slideway plate.

[0007] Furthermore, a plurality of radial slideways are evenly arranged on the slideway disc, and an included angle between the slideway on the cam-like slideway disc and the radial slideway is between 0 and 90 degrees.

[0008] Furthermore, three radial slideways with an angle of 120 degrees are evenly arranged on the slideway disc.

[0009] Furthermore, a spiral driving wheel is provided on the driving foot, which is installed 15 degrees away from the axis to provide driving force in two directions. At the same time, the driving foot stretches and contracts along the slide of the slide plate, so that the spiral driving wheel can be attached to the inner wall of pipes with different diameters.

[0010] Furthermore, the variable diameter expansion module includes a module cover, a magnetic module, a variable diameter disk and a connecting disk which are connected in sequence. The magnetic module is provided with a brush. The magnetic module is magnetically connected to the module cover and the variable diameter disk respectively. The magnetic module adopts a universal magnet arrangement method and can be adapted to modules equipped with different detection instruments according to actual engineering needs. The variable diameter disk is connected to the control and detection module through the connecting disk.

[0011] Furthermore, the control and detection module includes a motor control box, a component box and an edge computing box connected in sequence. The rotary drive motor provided in the component box passes through the motor control box and is connected to the variable diameter expansion module. The edge computing box provided with auxiliary wheels and a foreground camera is connected to the component box. The auxiliary wheels are mainly responsible for assisting in fitting to the pipe wall. The foreground camera observes the foreground during operation and captures the image inside the pipe directly in front of the pipe robot, which can be used to monitor the robot's operating status and the environmental conditions in front of the pipe in real time.

[0012] Furthermore, the variable diameter following module includes a fixed disk, a driven swing arm, a stepper motor, a follower wheel, a driving swing arm and a driving disk; the fixed disk and the driving disk are axially movably connected by the stepper motor, the driven swing arm cooperates with the hole shaft between the fixed disk and the driving swing arm to form a rotating pair, the outer side of the driven swing arm is fixedly connected to the driven wheel, and the hole shaft between the driving swing arm and the driving disk cooperates to form a rotating pair; the stepper motor drives the driving disk to move axially relative to the driving disk, and drives the driving swing arm and the driven swing arm on one side of the variable diameter following module to perform expansion and contraction movements in cooperation with the variable diameter expansion module, so that the follower wheel installed on the driven swing arm can be attached to the inner wall of pipes with different diameters, and at the same time, in the variable diameter pipe, the rear variable diameter following module cooperates with the front variable diameter expansion module to realize seamless diameter change during the operation of the robot.

[0013] Furthermore, the variable-diameter following module also includes a shell connected to the fixed disk and used to wrap the stepper motor and the driving disk, and the shell is also connected to a camera component box with a rear-view camera.

[0014] Furthermore, the variable diameter expansion module and the control and detection module, and / or the control and detection module and the variable diameter following module are connected by a flexible coupling. Based on the three-section structure, a variable whole with multiple degrees of freedom is formed by the flexible coupling to be suitable for bending pipes with various bending angles.

[0015] The advantages and beneficial effects of the present invention are: The invention discloses an in-road inspection robot with adaptive pipeline diameter. By adopting two different structures of stretching and tensioning variable diameter structures at the head and tail, it can achieve effective attachment to variable diameter pipes with large diameter spans, greatly reducing the cost of developing suitable attachment devices for pipes with different diameters; the multi-stage structure cooperates with the design of flexible couplings so that the pipeline robot can meet the attachment and propulsion of various curvature curved pipes; the replaceable magnetic suction module designed in the front variable diameter expansion module can increase or reduce the measurement and control instruments carried according to the actual detection requirements, and is suitable for different operation tasks; the driving wheel arranged at a 15-degree inclination in the front variable diameter expansion module performs spiral forward motion under the drive of the rotating drive motor, and can fully apply the radial and axial friction forces on the pipeline wall to obtain stronger propulsion power; the cameras carried in the control and detection module in the middle section of the fuselage and the variable diameter following module at the rear end can dynamically monitor the operating status and the environment in the pipeline. The whole set of devices is easy to install and has a wide range of use scenarios. It has the characteristics of simple structure, fast assembly, easy carrying, reliable operation, diverse functions and wide applicability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the overall structure of the robot in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a front-end variable diameter expansion module in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the structure of the variable diameter disk in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 4 It is a structural schematic diagram of the middle section control and detection module in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram of a rear-end variable diameter following module in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Description of reference numerals: 1. variable diameter expansion module; 2. control and detection module; 3. variable diameter following module; 4. flexible coupling a; 5. flexible coupling b; 101. module cover; 102. magnetic module; 103. brush; 104. variable diameter disk; 105. connecting disk; 104-1. slideway disk; 104-2. spiral driving wheel; 104-3. driving foot; 104-4 slider; 104-5. cam-like slideway disk; 1 04-6, rigid coupling; 201, auxiliary wheel; 202, component box; 203, rotation drive motor; 204, motor control box; 205, foreground camera; 206, edge computing box; 301, fixed disk; 302, driven swing arm; 303, stepper motor; 304, follower wheel; 305, drive swing arm; 306, housing; 307, camera component box; 308, rear view camera; 309, drive disk. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The specific implementation of the present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific implementation described here is only used to illustrate and explain the present invention, and is not used to limit the present invention.

[0023] like Figures 1 to 5 As shown, an in-pipe inspection robot with adaptive pipeline diameter of the present invention comprises a front-end variable diameter expansion module 1, a middle section control and detection module 2, a rear-end variable diameter following module 3, a flexible coupling a4 and a flexible coupling b5.

[0024] The front-end variable diameter extension module 1 includes a module cover 101, a magnetic module 102, a brush 103, a variable diameter disk 104 and a connecting disk 105. The module cover 101 and the magnetic module 102 are connected by magnetic attraction, and the two can be disassembled independently. The magnetic module 102 and the brush 103 are connected by bolts and nuts. The brush 103 can be replaced with models of different lengths according to actual needs. The magnetic module 102 and the variable diameter disk 104 are connected by magnetic attraction. The magnetic module 102 adopts a universal magnet arrangement method to adapt to modules equipped with different detection instruments according to actual engineering needs.

[0025] The variable diameter plate 104 is a front-end variable diameter device of an adaptive pipe diameter pipeline inspection robot including a head-to-tail double variable diameter structure. The variable diameter plate 104 includes a slide plate 104-1, a rotating drive wheel 104-2, a driving foot 104-3, a slider 104-4, a cam-like slide plate 104-5 and a rigid coupling 104-6. The slide plate 104-1 is internally designed with a slideway that can accommodate the slider 104-4 to slide up and down. The slider 104-4 and the driving foot 104-3 are fixed by welding, and the up and down movement of the slider 104-4 can To drive the driving foot 104-3 to stretch and contract, the cam-like slide plate 104-5 is designed with slides evenly distributed at 120 degrees, and is connected to the rigid coupling 104-6 with bolts. The internal slide of the cam-like slide plate 104-5 is embedded with a raised structure of the slider 104-4. The slider 104-4 slides in its internal slide under the rotation of the cam-like slide plate 104-5, and at the same time slides in the internal slide of the slide plate 104-1, thereby driving the radial stretching and contraction of the driving foot 104-3, thereby achieving the purpose of diameter change.

[0026] The mid-section control and detection module includes an auxiliary wheel 201, a component box 202, a rotation drive motor 203, a motor control box 204, a foreground camera 205 and an edge computing box 206. The auxiliary wheel 201 and the edge computing box 206 are connected by bolts, which are mainly responsible for assisting in fitting to the pipe wall. The rotation drive motor 203 is placed in the component box 202. The rotation drive motor 203 is connected to the rigid coupling 104-6 in the front-end variable diameter expansion module 1 by hole-shaft matching. The rotation drive motor 203 can drive the front-end variable diameter expansion module 1 to rotate as a whole. The foreground camera 205 is fixed in the edge computing box 206 and can observe the foreground during operation.

[0027] The rear-end variable diameter following module 3 comprises a fixed disk 301, a driven swing arm 302, a stepper motor 303, a follower wheel 304, a driving swing arm 305, a housing 306, a camera component box 307, a rear-view camera 308 and a driving disk 309. The fixed disk 301 has three matching holes evenly distributed at 120 degrees, and a rotation pair is formed between the fixed disk 301 and the driven swing arm 302 by a hole-shaft matching method. The driven swing arm 302 and the follower wheel 304 are connected by bolts, and a rotation pair is formed between the driven swing arm 305 and the driving swing arm 305 by a hole-shaft matching method. A rotation pair is formed between the driving swing arm 305 and the driving disk 309 by a hole-shaft matching method. The driving disk 309 can perform axial translational motion under the drive of the stepper motor 303. The rear-view camera 308 is placed inside the camera component box 307, and can observe the rearward environment during operation. The housing 306 is connected to the fixed disk 301 and the camera component box 307 by bolts. The rear end variable diameter following module 3 can drive the expansion and contraction movement of the driving swing arm 305 and the driven swing arm 302 through the axial movement of the driving disk 309, so that the follower wheel 304 installed on the driven swing arm 302 can be attached to the inner wall of pipes with different diameters.

[0028] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein by equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. An in-pipe inspection robot capable of self-adapting to pipeline diameter, comprising a variable diameter expansion module (1), a control and detection module (2), and a variable diameter following module (3) connected in sequence, characterized in that: The variable diameter expansion module (1) comprises a variable diameter disk (104), the variable diameter disk (104) comprising a slideway disk (104-1), a driving foot (104-3), a slider (104-4), a cam-like slideway disk (104-5) and a rigid coupling (104-6), and the control and detection module (2) comprises a rotary drive motor (203); the driving foot (104-3) is fixedly connected to the slider (104-4), and the slider (104-4) is simultaneously connected to the slideway and the cam-like slide on the radial direction of the slideway disk (104-1). The slideway on the track plate (104-5) is slidably connected, the slideway of the track plate (104-1) and the slideway of the cam-like track plate (104-5) are arranged to be matched at an angle, and the rotary drive motor (203) and the rigid coupling (104-6) are matched to each other via a hole shaft; the rotary drive motor (203) drives the cam-like track plate (104-5) to rotate via the rigid coupling (104-6), thereby driving the drive foot (104-3) corresponding to the slider (104-4) to radially extend and retract along the track plate (104-1).

2. The pipeline diameter adaptive in-pipe inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The slider (104-4) is provided with a protrusion, the slider (104-4) is slidably connected to a slideway on the slideway plate (104-1), and the protrusion is slidably connected to a slideway on the cam-like slideway plate (104-5).

3. The pipeline diameter adaptive in-pipe inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: A plurality of radial slideways are evenly arranged on the slideway plate (104-1), and an included angle between the slideway on the cam-like slideway plate (104-5) and the radial slideway is between 0 and 90 degrees.

4. The pipeline diameter adaptive in-pipe inspection robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: Three radial slideways with an angle of 120 degrees are evenly arranged on the slideway plate (104-1).

5. The pipeline diameter adaptive in-pipe inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving foot (104-3) is provided with a spiral driving wheel (104-2), which is installed at an angle of 15 degrees from the axis.

6. The pipeline diameter adaptive in-pipe inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The variable diameter expansion module (1) comprises a module cover (101), a magnetic module (102), a variable diameter disk (104) and a connection disk (105) which are connected in sequence; a brush (103) is provided on the magnetic module (102); the magnetic module (102) is magnetically connected to the module cover (101) and the variable diameter disk (104) respectively; and the variable diameter disk (104) is connected to the control and detection module (2) via the connection disk (105).

7. The pipeline diameter adaptive in-pipe inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control and detection module (2) comprises a motor control box (204), a component box (202) and an edge computing box (206) which are connected in sequence; a rotation drive motor (203) provided in the component box (202) passes through the motor control box (204) and is connected to the variable diameter expansion module (1); and an edge computing box (206) provided with auxiliary wheels (201) and a foreground camera (205) is connected to the component box (202).

8. The pipeline diameter adaptive in-pipe inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The variable diameter following module (3) comprises a fixed disk (301), a driven swing arm (302), a stepping motor (303), a follower wheel (304), a driving swing arm (305) and a driving disk (309); the fixed disk (301) and the driving disk (309) are axially movably connected via the stepping motor (303); the driven swing arm (302) cooperates with the holes and shafts between the fixed disk (301) and the driving swing arm (305) to form a rotating pair; the driven swing arm (302) is fixedly connected to the follower wheel (304) on the outside; the driving swing arm (305) and the driving disk (309) cooperate with the holes and shafts to form a rotating pair; the stepping motor (303) drives the driving disk (309) to move axially relative to the driving disk (309), thereby driving the driving swing arm (305) and the driven swing arm (302) on one side of the variable diameter following module (3) to perform expansion and contraction movements in cooperation with the variable diameter expansion module (1).

9. The pipeline diameter adaptive in-pipe inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The variable-diameter following module (3) further comprises a housing (306) connected to the fixed disk (301) and used to enclose the stepping motor (303) and the driving disk (309); the housing (306) is also connected to a camera element box (307) having a rear-view camera (308).

10. The pipeline diameter adaptive in-pipe inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The variable diameter expansion module (1) and the control and detection module (2), and / or the control and detection module (2) and the variable diameter following module (3) are connected via a flexible coupling.

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