Patent ID: 7980136

Claim:
A leak and contamination detection micro-submarine, comprising: a micro-miniature hull; a substance contamination detector housed in the micro-miniature hull; an acoustical leak detector housed in the micro-miniature hull; electronic control circuitry housed in the micro-miniature hull, the electronic control circuitry having circuits for accepting, filtering, analyzing, and correlating signals from the detectors, and, based on the signal filtering, analyzing, and correlating, the electronic control circuitry determining a leak/contamination condition in an immediate environment of the submarine; a radio frequency transceiver mounted in the micro-miniature hull, the radio frequency transceiver remotely communicating the leak/contamination condition and a location of the submarine to the outside world; a micro-miniature motor housed in the micro-miniature hull; a drive shaft connected to the micro-miniature motor; a propeller connected to the drive shaft, the combination of motor, drive shaft and propeller propelling the submarine through a fluid filled pipe; and means for steering the submarine through the pipe and any joints the pipe may have, wherein said means for steering the submarine comprises piezoelectric means for changing a control surface portion of the hull.