DeWaLoP — Remote control for in-pipe robot

This paper describes the development of the DeWaLoP (Developing Water Loss Prevention) in-pipe robot remote control, capable of managing with an extended Networked Control System (eNCS) and a standard hardware configuration, a complex robot system. The communications network uses a combination of Ethernet and microcontroller´s serial communication. Ethernet is used for the long distance (d>;100m) data link, transmitting video and data between the robot system and the control station, while the communication between the robot systems is made through microcontroller´s serial interface such as SPI/RS-232/I²C. The remote control can be multiplexed in order to select, operate and upgrade the different robot systems and sub-systems, while reusing the hardware configuration. This remote control idea was conceived from the water polo IEEE mini-robotic contest, where a team of three users controls three robots to play water polo against another team. Using this approach a single person was able to control the entire team with one remote control, by selecting which robot to be used while the other two robots play with a pre-programmed AI algorithm; and ultimately the remote control can manage all the team, one robot at a time[1]. In the same way, a complex robot system can be managed, by having on each of its individual systems, a preprogrammed AI algorithm, which can be overridden by the remote control, when needed.