Path planning expert system for pipeline inspection robots

The authors discuss sensing planning based on system knowledge for pipeline inspection and intelligent control of a maintenance robot. The pipeline inspection robot can carry out inspection tasks to detect the malfunction location autonomously in a plant pipeline system. It can estimate and search failure causes. The path planning system is shown to find the optimal path for the robot from one point to another under specified criteria. Furthermore, the sensors, for example, infrared ray proximity sensors or ultrasonic sensors, are installed to detect obstacles such as flanges and T-joints, and the robot can move autonomously under microprocessor control. Using PRES (path planning expert system) and SPES (sensing planning expert system), the robot becomes intelligent enough to carry out given inspection tasks automatically