PFI-TT: Vine Robots for In-Pipe Navigation and Inspection of Critical Infrastructure

PFI-TT：用于管道内导航和关键基础设施检查的 Vine 机器人

• 批准号: 2345769
• 负责人: Allison Okamura
• 金额: $ 55万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-01 至 2026-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2345769&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFI; TT; Vine; Robots; Pipe

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is the ability to inspect millions of miles of pipes that form critical infrastructure in both the public and private sectors. These pipes are buried under cities, are elevated across continents, and snake across factories, refineries, and treatment facilities -- transporting millions of tons of materials each day. But these pipes are difficult to inspect and thus prone to catastrophic failure, leading to hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries, profound environmental impact, and $7.5 billion in damages in the U.S. oil and gas industry alone from 1986 to 2013. The global market for in-pipe inspection robots is projected to exceed $2 billion in the next several years, despite the significant limitations of current products, which cannot traverse complex and tortuous pipe systems or long distances between access points. This project will result in novel Vine Robots for nondestructive access to the interior of pipes for inspection, repair, and clog removal. The science and technology of soft robot propulsion, steering, and payload carrying will be developed to address navigation challenges that have thus far limited the effectiveness and adoption of robotic inspection.The proposed project will make key scientific discoveries and solve practical engineering challenges required to bring soft robotics out of the research lab to solve the unmet needs of a critical real-world application, pipe inspection. Research objectives include: (1) improving Vine Robot navigation via pressure-driven eversion using workspace analysis and modeling, base station design, materials selection, and tip-steering mechanisms; (2) enabling data collection and usability during pipe navigation, by employing teleoperated and autonomous control strategies and acquisition and visualization of video and other sensor data; (3) enabling debris sampling and removal through enhanced pushing/pulling forces and payload carrying abilities; and (4) designing, fabricating, and evaluating physical Vine Robots in achieving specific performance metrics for navigating long, tortuous, and branching pipes while operated by novices and continuously acquiring in-pipe video. Advances in soft robots will be made in material selection and design, modeling and analysis and their interaction with the environment. Novel mechanisms will be developed to create a robust and effective tip mount for a class of robot whose material at the tip is constantly changing. Finally, user friendly human-machine interfaces for visualization and interpretation of acquired data will be integrated with the Vine Robot system.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这种创新合作伙伴关系的更广泛的影响/商业潜力 - 技术翻译（PFI -TT）项目是能够检查数百万英里的管道，这些管道在公共部门和私营部门都形成关键的基础设施。这些管道被埋葬在城市之下，在整个大陆上都升高，并且在工厂，炼油厂和治疗设施之间进行蛇 - 每天运输数百万吨的材料。但是，这些管道很难检查，因此容易发生灾难性的失败，导致数百人死亡，数千人受伤，深远的环境影响和75亿美元的损害赔偿，仅在1986年至2013年间，美国石油和天然气行业的全球市场市场均超过了较长的限制，即使在较长的限制中，越来越多的越来越多的驾驶措施，该机器人的侵权机器人在未来几年中均超过五亿美元，并且当前的产品范围不超过范围，并且当前的侵权范围较长。该项目将导致新型的藤蔓机器人，以无损地进入管道内部，以进行检查，修复和堵塞。软机器人推进，转向和有效载荷携带的科学和技术将被开发出来，以应对迄今为止的导航挑战，这些挑战限制了机器人检查的有效性和采用。拟议的项目将使您的科学发现进行关键的科学发现并解决实用的工程挑战，以使研究实验室中的软机器人能够解决研究实验室，以解决关键的现实技术应用程序的无效需求。研究目标包括：（1）使用工作空间分析和建模，基站设计，材料选择和尖端驱动机制来改善藤蔓机器人导航； （2）通过采用详细和自主控制策略以及视频和其他传感器数据的可视化和可视化来启用数据收集和可用性； （3）通过增强的推动力和有效载荷承载能力来实现碎屑采样和去除； （4）设计，制造和评估物理藤机器人，以实现特定的性能指标，用于在新手操作并不断获取管道内视频时导航长，曲折和分支的管道。软机器人的进步将在材料选择，设计，建模和分析及其与环境的相互作用方面取得进展。将开发出新的机制，为一类机器人创建强大而有效的尖端安装，这些机器人在尖端不断变化。最后，用户友好的人机接口可视化和对获得数据的解释将与藤机器人系统集成。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子和更广泛影响的评估评估标准来通过评估来支持的。