Final Project

So the objective of this week is to describe and introduce the final project i will be doing.

So the issue is that Cad Software are New, and they have been commercially used since only 10 years or so. Saying that, the maps and designs of existing pipes are drawn on paper and thrown at some garbage or in the corner of the office of a retired (most probably dead) Engineer. So when new projects are being designed and applied, the main problem contractors face is the lack of data and designs, and many surprises that apear on the road, which could increase the cost of the project, and reducing the contactors profit. From here came the idea of a Pipe Tracking Bot, which surveys a pipe from the inside and draws a digital map to the existing pipes underground, thus saving a lot of Time, Effort and Money used to survey the existing pipes the old way.

Applications and Implications of my Robot

In order to discribe more the project, i will be answering the following questions:

What will it do?

The main objective is to to have a small robot that can fit in pipes of various diameters, and it can move autonomously in the pipe, recording the distance and the angular direction of the pathway it crosses. The data collected will be studied to extract a 3d map to the existing pipe.

Who's done what beforehand?

Many pipe inspection robots done before could be available online, mainly as videos on You Tube. Those various projects differ by the scale, mechanisms and technologies they are using to achieve the same job, but with different efficiencies. However, those Robots have one of two objectives:

1. Pipe Inspection
which is checking and inspecting any deformaties, problems, and irreguarities.
2. Pipe Repair and Cleaning
that mainly fixes the irregularities in pipes.

None of those, at least based on my research, collect location and postion data to be used to build a digital map. But, the good thing is that I can get ideas of the various mechanisms used before, which could be applied in my robot.

Many of the projects that has been done before could be found on the following links:

1. Pipe Inspection Robot which was done by students as a Final YEar Project
2. Remote Visual Inspection which was developed by Inuktun Services Ltd, a company that specializes in pipe inspections.
3. In-pipe Robot which is a pipe surveying robot that uses a parallelogram crawler module.
4. Tracked Mobile Robot
that is used for pipe inspection that can adapt to different types of circular cross-section pipelines that can be horizontal or vertical, rectangular cross-section pipelines, horizontal or inclined surfaces.
5. Minature Pipe Crawler which a pipe inspection system used for small tubes.
6. Pipe Inspection Robot
7. Inspection Robot
8. Screw-drive In-pipe Robot, a project that was published on the IEEE Explore Page
9. Advanced Pipeline Robot
10. Pipeline Inspection Tools that show various crawlers of various shapes and sizes
11. Pipeline Inspection Robots that show various pipe inspection robots available in the market.
12. Custom Pipe and Vault Inspection Robots that show various pipe inspection robots available in the market.

In addition to that, there many companies specified in the Pipe Surveying Business, who either produce, rent or sell those robots for a very high charge. Among those found are the following:

1. Inuktun
2. ULC
3. RICO
4. Riezler
5. Super Droid Robots, acompany that design and build custom pipe inspections robots.
6. Pure Technologies a company that produces the PureRobotics, a robotic pipeline inspection system.
7. HoneyBee Robotics, a company that produces pipe inspection robots.
8. Fiber Scope
9. Sewer Vue

What will I design?

After checking all the available ideas in the market that could help me develop my robot, the next step was to decide what should I be designing.

Saying that, I will be designing a cheap and fabable robot that moves autonomously in a pipe, and collects position and angular data and stores the data to create later a 3d visulaization of the pipe profile and path.

What materials and components will be used?

To achieve my project, many different components have to be used, that when grouped together in a system, will achieve the final objective of the robot.

Those components could be divided into two major parts, the Mechanical Components of the robot and the Electronic components that will be collecting data and controlling the mechanical parts of the robot.

• Electronic Components


To achieve the idea in mind, we require a set of inputs (sensors) that will be used to gather data, and outputs that will save the data collected in the bot's trip inside the pipe, and control the movement of the robot.
The set of Electronic Components that I plan to use are the following:
1. MPU-99250 Gyro Sensor that measures the angle of the bot with respect to the ground. After testing many of the Gyro sensors used in the market, I decided to use the MPU9250: 9-DOF 3-Axis Accelerometer, Gyro, & Magnetometer as my sensor.
2. SparkFun microSD Transflash Breakout that is used to save the collected data on an external microSD Flash drive. I decided to use the SparkFun microSD Transflash Breakout
3. Ultrasonic Sensor that measures the distance the bot has until it hits a wall or an obstacle, to prevent the bot from being stuck inside the pipe. This sensor will also be used to confirm the existance of elbows in the pipeline. In my project i will use the Ultrasonic Sensor - HC-SR04 as a distance measuring sensor.
4. Stepper Motor with Rotary Encoder that is both an output and input at the same time. So the stepper motor produces motion and at the same time it records the number of rotations done, thus measuring the distance. In my project i will be using the Nema 17 Stepper Motor
5. Stepper Motor Driver that is used to control the motion of the stepper motor. In my project i will be using the Stepper Driver A4988
6. ATmega328/p used as the main microcontroller on my board. You can find the data sheet on the following Link
7. 16 MHz Crystal is the crystal used on my board. You can find the data sheet on the following Link
8. SMD Electronic Components such as the Resistors, Capacitors, LEDs that are used to build my board.
9. Battery that will supply the whole system with power.



• Mechanical Components


In addition to the electronics components that will gather data and control the robot, we need the mechanical and physical parts that make the robot itself. To achieve the objective, the robot must be able to move inside pipes, most probably of various diameters, and carry all electrical and mechanical components it has on board. Thus according to what we want, the following mechanical components are needed.
1. Main Frame that will carry all components of the robot.
2. Mecanum Wheels that will help achieve movement in any direction easily, thus having an omni-directional mobile robot. This will make controlling the position of the robot of the pipe very easy.
3. The Hull that will be installed on the frame and covers all the electronic and mechanical components of the robot.




Where will come from?

According to list of components I will be using for my robot, almost all Electronic Components will be bought from local suppliers, mainly the standarized modules such as the MPU-9250, the SparkFun microSD Transflash Breakout, and the A4988 Stepper Driver. On the other hand, the control board will be designed and fabricated in the Fab Lab.

Concerning the Mechanical Parts of my robot, all parts will be designed and constructed in the Fab Lab. Most parts are expected to be 3d printed such as the Wheels and the Frame. Some parts will be laser cut such as the battery stand. In addition to that, I will cut some logos using a Vinyl Cutter.

How much will they cost?

Concerning the Electronic Components, the prices are the following: The set of Electronic Components that I plan to use are the following:

1. MPU-9250 Gyro Sensor 5.695$ link
2. SparkFun microSD Transflash Breakout 6.95$ link
3. Ultrasonic Sensor 3.95$ link as a distance measuring sensor.
4. Stepper Motor with Rotary Encoder 22.95$ link
5. Stepper Motor Driver 5.95$link

As for the mechanical components, they will be calculated based on the material consumed.

What parts and systems will be made?

Mainly all parts will be made in the lab, except for the standard electronic modules.

What processes will be used?

In order to fabricated and produce the different components of the robot, the following processes will be followed:

• SLA 3d Printing will be used to produce the main frame of the mecanium wheels
• FDM 3d Printing will be used to produce the frame, the hull, and the different mechanical parts of the robot
• CNC Milling will be used to produce the control board of my robot
• Laser Cutting will be used to produce the battery stand

What tasks need to be completed

All the following tasks need to be completed to build my final project:

• SLA 3d Printing will be used to produce the main frame of the mecanium wheels
• FDM 3d Printing will be used to produce the frame, the hull, and the different mechanical parts of the robot
• CNC Milling will be used to produce the control board of my robot

What questions need to be answered?

The main question that my robot will be answering is:

What is the pipe trajectory?

What is the Schedule

Many steps will be followed to make my final project. Those are divided into 2 main parts:

1. The Design Part
2. The Prodcution Part

The project schedule will go as the following:

1. Designing the Electric Circuit that will be used to build the control board
2. Design the mechanical components such as the frame, the hull, the wheels and the different mechanical parts of the robot
3. CNC Milling the control board will be used to control my robot
4. Soldering and Programming the control board
5. 3d printing all th mechanical components of the robot
6. Assembly of all components
7. Testing and Fixing the Code to make sure that the whole system works

All those steps will be done in the coming two weeks.

How will it be evaluated?

After producing the first prototype of my pipe surveying robot, the prototype will be tested in a pipe to check that it achieves all the basic capabilities and objective it was designed to do.

The following main capabilites must be achieved for it to be successful:

1. Motion in all directions
2. Capability to detect obstacles and stop
3. Capability to gather angular and position data
4. The ability to regulate position according to the measured angular data
5. Capability to store the data on an external microSD memory card

Additional capabilities are a plus if achieved, leading to a better and more efficient result:

1. Capability to adjust angle of wheels according to pipe diameter
2. None slipping capability to guarantee that the collected data are precise