NAVCAM - Articulated Pipe Inspection

NAVCAM项目旨在设计和制造一种灵活的摄像头，可以远程控制其形状和移动方向。为了实现这一目标，Forth工程公司将开发一种柔软的机器人，气动肌肉，它将支持相机传感器。气动肌肉和摄像头将由一根缆绳支撑，该缆绳为远程操作人员提供电气和气动连接。这一发展的目的是使人们能够更好地利用淡水供应管道，为供水公司提供一种更可靠和更具成本效益的方法来调查管道的内部损坏情况。目前，进入供水网络的摄像机在摄像机和缆绳之间有一个弹簧连接。这使得它们可以被推到角落，但当面对管道中的接头时，不允许控制方向。此外，目前的技术不允许摄像头通过最常见的2型消防栓，因此这可能导致中断和破坏性的挖掘。NAVCAM为摄像机操作员提供了自由导航计划的检查路线，从而节省了时间，并允许更有效地识别泄漏点。在整个开发和生产过程中，NAVCAM项目将利用最先进的增材制造技术。这提供了更大的设计灵活性，并允许成本有效的原型。这也将有助于软机器人的子领域从研发过渡到现实世界的应用。一旦该解决方案被开发用于管网检测，预计将有许多机会在多个行业进一步发展。除了软机器人的发展。该项目还将开发机械解决方案，以在不失去压力的情况下进入活水管，并在无需操作员手动输入的情况下将摄像机和缆绳驱动到管网中。

The NAVCAM project aims to design and build a flexible camera head which can have its shape and direction of travel manipulated remotely. To achieve this, Forth Engineering will develop a soft robotic, pneumatic muscle which will support a camera sensor. The pneumatic muscle and the camera head will be supported by a tether providing electrical and pneumatic connections back to a remote operator. The purpose of this development is to allow better access to fresh water supply pipelines providing water companies with a more reliable and cost-effective means of surveying pipelines for internal damage. Currently, the cameras that are fed into the water network have a spring connection between the camera and the tether. This allows them to be pushed around corners but does not allow for control of the direction once when faced with a junction in the pipe. Also, current technology doesn't allow cameras to navigate through the most common type 2 hydrants and therefore this can lead outages and disruptive excavations. NAVCAM provides camera operators the freedom to navigate a planned inspection route thus saving time and allowing for more effective identification of leakage points.Throughout development and production, the NAVCAM project will utilise state of the art additive manufacturing techniques. This provides greater design flexibility and allows for cost effective prototyping. It will also help the subfield of soft robotics in its transition from R&D to real world applications. Once the solution has been developed for use in the inspection of pipe networks, it is predicted that there will be numerous opportunities for further development across multiple industries.In addition to the soft robotics development. The project will also develop mechanical solutions for accessing live water pipes without loss of pressure and for driving the camera and the tether into the pipe network without manual input from the operator.