Development of a drone-robot hybrid system for industrial plant inspection

A Shibli

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) and robots are being investigated and used for the inspection of power, process and other industrial plants and civil structures. Drones are excellent for overview-type visual inspection and identifying location(s) where damage, cracking or failure may have occurred or is imminent. They can also perform other tasks such as, for example, identifying sources and locations of thermal leaks using thermal imaging cameras. UAVs can save major costs for the inspection of tall structures, where otherwise large scaffolding has to be erected and made safe before use. However, because of the lack of stability, drones may not be suitable for non-destructive examination (NDE). On the other hand, robots can be excellent for closer inspection, UT wall thickness measurement and crack sizing-type work, but getting them to climb tall and sometimes unclean or uneven structures can be difficult, if not impossible.

In view of the above, a new international industry-supported project has just completed an exploratory phase study on the development of a hybrid system for power plant inspection and ultrasonic testing (UT), which will initially include surface cleaning, wall thickness measurement and crack detection and sizing. The next phase (the development phase) of this project is now being launched for international industry sponsorship. This will be aimed at developing a prototype to inspect, at the first instance, power and process plant, which can then be used or further developed, as the need be, for the inspection of other industrial and civil structures.