Design and analysis of a novel autonomous mobile inspection robot for extreme outdoor applications
Creators: Afaq, Misha
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2023

<p>Inspection robots can be deployed in a wide range of environments exhibiting an abundance of hazards and extreme conditions, which includes environments with chemicals and<br>
radiation, strong winds and extreme weather conditions, forest fires and explosions, high pressure and temperature applications, fluid flows, deep sea and space applications, and areas infected with dangerous micro-organisms and diseases. However, the Oil and gas industry is the largest among<br>
others, with a wide range of challenging on-shore and off-shore inspection applications that demand automation. Moreover, most onshore applications necessitate direct human involvement at various levels of the business, from oil and gas energy product extraction to distribution. Robotic technology currently used in the oil and gas onshore industries faces significant drawbacks in terms of the lack of autonomy, reliability, and robustness in operation and is highly supervised. Moreover, the oil and gas facilities are mostly located in inhospitable environments with extreme hot and cold conditions, such as low temperatures up to -40 ° C in northern Canada. The pipes and tanks for fluid storage and distribution and the vehicles carrying the oil and gas supply require regular inspection and maintenance as these objects are subjected to high pressure, temperature, vibration, and humidity which can cause irreparable damage. Several robotic technologies have been developed and implemented to deal with inspection related to damage detection, like cracks, corrosion, pitting, thermal cycling, shock loading, etc., on the surface of objects like pipelines, tanks, and infrastructures. However, insufficient robotic technologies exist that can perform damage-related inspections in extreme outdoor weather conditions, specifically in harsh winter environments with snow-clad terrains and low temperatures. Thus, this thesis research report presents a new and highly modular mobile robot design that can be reconfigured into four different models: tracked with the robot arm, tracked<br>
with a camera PTZ mechanism, omni-wheeled with the robot arm, and omni-wheeled with PTZ mechanism. With four different types of robot configurations, it will be able to perform both visual and NDT type inspection interchangeably, navigate over all kinds of outdoor terrains, move in tight spaces, and inspect various objects such as pipelines, vehicles, infrastructure, plants, and equipment. This report provides a detailed overview of the mechanical, thermal, and electrical<br>
design aspects of the proposed mobile robot design for safe, reliable, and autonomous operation in extreme environments. Additionally, a Fuzzy Logic controller-based thermal management system design is proposed and analyzed in ANSYS and Solidworks fluid flow simulation software for the mobile robot to efficiently tackle the imposed challenge of autonomous operation in extreme hot and cold environments. The strength of robot body materials at various locations like<br>
IM7/977-2 carbon fiber, Aramid phenolic honeycomb, and polycarbonate is measured against extreme weather phenomena such as strong wind pressures with wind speeds up to 40 m/s, material<br>
insulation strength against extreme hot/cold temperatures, and impact resistance against hailstone sizes of 25 mm and above in simulation using ANSYS software tools.</p>