A Bristle-Based Pipeline Robot for Ill-Constraint Pipes

This paper presents the study of a pipeline robot based on a bristle mechanism. The bristle mechanism shows great flexibility and makes the pipeline robot to be able to work in ill-constraint pipes, which were previously considered as unpiggable or uninspectable. The working principle of pipeline robot is illustrated and the bristle mechanism is given in-depth analysis. Bristle traction force model is set up and the approximate calculation of bristle traction force based on Euler buckling theory is also described. The approximate calculation is conducted and simulated by using one single bristle. A laboratory experiment of bristle traction force is carried out and then the experimental result is compared with the calculation result. The experimental result shows the validity of bristle traction force model. Field trials of brush pipeline robots are also conducted in ill-constraint pipes and trial results show the flexibility and adaptability of the bristle mechanism. Future work and key issues in the research of brush pipeline robots are discussed at the end of the paper.