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

创新伙伴关系-技术转化（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是能够检查数百万英里的管道，这些管道构成了公共和私营部门的关键基础设施。这些管道埋在城市地下，横跨各大洲，蜿蜒穿过工厂、炼油厂和处理设施，每天运送数百万吨的材料。但这些管道很难检查，因此容易发生灾难性故障，导致数百人死亡，数千人受伤，严重的环境影响，仅在1986年至2013年期间，美国石油和天然气行业就损失了75亿美元。尽管目前的产品无法穿越复杂曲折的管道系统或接入点之间的长距离，但未来几年，管道内检测机器人的全球市场预计将超过20亿美元。该项目将产生新颖的Vine机器人，用于无损地进入管道内部进行检查、维修和清除堵塞。软机器人推进、转向和有效载荷携带的科学技术将得到发展，以解决迄今为止限制机器人检测有效性和采用的导航挑战。拟议的项目将做出关键的科学发现，并解决实际工程挑战，将软机器人技术带出研究实验室，以解决现实世界中关键应用（管道检测）的未满足需求。研究目标包括：(1)利用工作空间分析和建模、基站设计、材料选择和尖端转向机制，通过压力驱动版本改进Vine机器人导航；(2)通过采用遥控和自主控制策略以及视频和其他传感器数据的获取和可视化，实现管道导航过程中的数据收集和可用性；(3)通过增强推/拉力和有效载荷承载能力，实现碎片取样和清除；(4)设计、制造和评估物理Vine机器人在由新手操作和不断获取管道内视频的同时，实现长、曲折和分支管道导航的特定性能指标。软机器人将在材料选择和设计、建模和分析以及它们与环境的相互作用方面取得进展。将开发新的机构，为一类尖端材料不断变化的机器人创建一个坚固有效的尖端支架。最后，用户友好的人机界面，用于可视化和解释获取的数据将与Vine机器人系统集成。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.