The Robot Inspector

Finding cracks and potential cracks in underground water pipes can be a daunting job, but a University of Regina researcher is finding a solution. Dr. Mehran Mehrandezh and a team of graduate students are developing a robot equipped with sensors to look for these problems.

“I was initially approached by Dr. Don Taylor and Dr. Balvant Rajani of the National Research Council (NRC) at a conference in 2003. They were interested to know how my expertise in robotics could be used for conducting inspection on water pipes,” said Dr. Mehrandezh.

Shortly afterwards the NRC contacted him to start a collaboration on the development of a pipe inspecting robot. To further develop the idea, Dr. Mehrandezh, along with Dr. Najjaran (an NRC research officer at the time), Dr. Rajani and Dr. Paranjape (a university professor at the U of R) received seed funding from Communities of Tomorrow (CT) to conduct feasibility studies and preliminary research plans to begin the project.

After completing the initial research phase, the team approached CT for strategic funding toward the design and development of a prototype. Three undergraduate engineering students and later two graduate students were recruited to develop the proper controls.

The resulting prototype, called the Regina Pipe Crawler, can travel in six inch diameter pipelines. The operator views the robot in a virtual environment and when required, directs it when to stop and make an inspection. The robot had to be created with the ability to stop and start on a moment's notice to ensure the pipe was properly monitored. It can also move in straight or curved pipeline and scurry downwards in a vertical pipe.

The information gathered by this robot will facilitate reliable condition assessment and help in the decision making regarding cost-effective rehabilitation planning. The project took first place at a recent university engineering design competition hosted by the American Society for Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers. The project was also recognized at the Unmanned Vehicle Systems conference and it was featured in Summit magazine.

“We are currently working with the City of Regina because they would like it to be able to conduct inspections on cast iron pipes. Some are very old and range in size from 200 mm to 900 mm. We'll have to make some modifications to our design,” says Dr. Mehrandezh.

He has been in discussions with a company that is interested in commercializing it after it has been thoroughly tested. Two students who worked on the project have now been hired locally, one by the NRC Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure Research in Regina and the other by the International Test Centre at the University of Regina , and a third is completing her MBA program at the university.

“CT support has been critical for us,” says Dr. Mehrandezh. “Without it, we would never have been able to reach this level this quickly.”