Pipe crawling inspection robots: an overview

Abstract

Pipe crawling inspection robots (PCIRs) are playing an important and expanding role in remote testing and inspection of 4 in. to 8 ft. diameter pipes. PCIRs provide the power, process and pulp industries with an economical and time-saving approach to inspection of insulated, buried or inaccessible pipes. Three locomotive mechanisms of PCIRs, commonly-employed nondestructive testing (NDT) sensors and techniques, as well as field deployments are discussed in this paper.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>