Research lead
Researchers at the Norwegian research organisation, SINTEF, are developing an intelligent robot that can climb and navigate inside narrow pipes down to 20 centimetres in diameter. The robot will be able to climb, navigate intersections and at any given time know its location in the pipe system.
“We are currently developing the vision system than will enable the robot to navigate,” says Jens Thielemann at SINTEF ICT. “In the meantime, we are using the Lego robot Mindstormer to collect the data to train the vision system. This Lego robot has a camera attached and moves around the pipe following a pre-programmed map. The next step will be to utilise the vision system as input to control the snake robot we are going to develop.”
The camera that will provide the new robot’s vision is an off the shelf time-of-flight camera that provides a bathymetric chart of the pipe system.
“Combined with our algorithms, the robot will be able to navigate and move forward on its own,” says Thielemann. “The robot knows when a left or right turn is approaching and also contains a built-in path description detailing what tasks it should carry out in different situations.”
The scientists hope to demonstrate a prototype model by the end of the year. The final version of the robot will be constructed of aluminium and is planned to be 1.5 metres long.
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