Luis A. Mateos

Towards efficient pipe maintenance: DeWaLoP in-pipe robot stability controller

This paper describes the stability controller of the DeWaLoP (Developing Water Loss Prevention) in-pipe robot. The robots objective is to redevelop the pipe joints of fresh water supply systems by crawling into water canals and applying a restoration material to repair the pipes. The robots structure consists of six wheeled-legs, three on the front separated 120° and three on the back in the same configuration, supporting the structure along the centre of the pipe. The robot, by maintaining its structure in the pipes centre, enables the cleaning and sealing tools to work properly by rotating around the inner circumference of the pipe, similar to a cylindrical robot, covering the entire 3D in-pipe space. Likewise, the tools may exert different forces while working, pushing or pulling the structure of the robot and moving it out of its centered position. Moreover, the pipes have maximum degree of pressure of 6 bar, meaning that the pipes can break if the forces are not balanced. Therefore, robot requires to be calibrated at the center of the pipe before the maintenance task is implemented and a dynamic controller is needed to maintain a proportional pressure on each of the robots wheeled-legs for balancing the robot when the tools system (cleaning and sealing systems) are working.

Automatic in-pipe robot centering from 3D to 2D controller simplification

After 50 years the connections between fresh water pipes (800-1200mm diameter) need to be repaired due to aging and dissolution of the filling material. Only in Vienna 3000km of pipes need to be improved, which requires a robotic solution. The main challenge is to accurately align the robot axis with the pipe axis to enable the rotary motion of the maintenance tool. The tool system for cleaning and sealing is mounted on the maintenance unit of the robot consisting of six wheeled-legs. These legs extend to the irregular cast-iron pipe and set the robot structure eccentric to the pipes center. In order to center the maintenance unit, distance sensors on the legs allow to adapt to the noncircular shape of the pipe. Correcting the leg extension allows to obtain better positioning of the cleaning tool.

DeWaLoP — Remote control for in-pipe robot

This paper describes the development of the DeWaLoP (Developing Water Loss Prevention) in-pipe robot remote control, capable of managing with an extended Networked Control System (eNCS) and a standard hardware configuration, a complex robot system. The communications network uses a combination of Ethernet and microcontrollers serial communication. Ethernet is used for the long distance (d>100m) data link, transmitting video and data between the robot system and the control station, while the communication between the robot systems is made through microcontrollers serial interface such as SPI/RS-232/I2C. The remote control can be multiplexed in order to select, operate and upgrade the different robot systems and sub-systems, while reusing the hardware configuration. This remote control idea was conceived from the water polo IEEE mini-robotic contest, where a team of three users controls three robots to play water polo against another team. Using this approach a single person was able to control the entire team with one remote control, by selecting which robot to be used while the other two robots play with a pre-programmed AI algorithm; and ultimately the remote control can manage all the team, one robot at a time[1]. In the same way, a complex robot system can be managed, by having on each of its individual systems, a preprogrammed AI algorithm, which can be overridden by the remote control, when needed.

Expanding Irregular Graph Pyramid for an Approaching Object

This paper focus on one of the major problems in model-based object tracking, the problem of how to dynamically update the model to adapt changes in the structure and appearance of the target object. We adopt Irregular Graph Pyramids to hierarchically represent the topological structure of a rigid moving object with multiresolution, making it possible to add new details observed from an approaching object by expanding the pyramid.

LaMMos - Latching mechanism based on motorized-screw for reconfigurable robots

Reconfigurable robots refer to a category of robots that their components (individual joints and links) can be assembled in multiple configurations and geometries. Most of existing latching mechanisms are based on the physical tools such as hook, cages or magnets, which limit the payload capacity. Therefore, the heavy weight robots require a latching mechanism which can help to auto reconfigure itself without sacrificing the payload capability. This paper presents a latching mechanism based on the flexible screw attaching principle. We use actuators to move the robot links and joints and connect them with a motorized-screw, and disconnect them by unfastening the screw. The right-angle bracket used in our mechanism configuration helps to hold maximum force up to 2000N. This latching mechanism based on motorized-screw has been applied to the DeWaLoP (Developing Water Loss Prevention) in-pipe robot. It helps the robot to shrink its body to crawl into the pipe with minimum diameter, by reconfiguring the leg positions. And it helps to recover the legs positions to original status once the robot is inside the pipe. This mechanism offers many interesting opportunities for robotics research in terms of functionality, payload and size.

Chaotic Nonlinear Prime Number Function

Dynamical systems in nature, such as heartbeat patterns, DNA sequence pattern, prime number distribution, etc., exhibit nonlinear (chaotic) space‐time fluctuations and exact quantification of the fluctuation pattern for predictability purposes has not yet been achieved [1]. In this paper a chaotic‐nonlinear prime number function P(s) is developed, from which prime numbers are generated and decoded while composite numbers are encoded over time following the Euler product methodology, which works on sequences progressively culled from multiples of the preceding primes. By relating this P(s) to a virtually closed 2D number line manifold, it is possible to represent the evolving in time of nonlinear (chaotic) systems to a final value where the system becomes stable, becomes linear. This nonlinear prime number function is proposed as a chaotic model system able to describe chaotic systems.Mathematicians has been trying to prove the weak Goldbachs conjecture by adding prime numbers, as stated in the conjecture. However, we believe that the solution does not need to be analytically solved. Instead of trying to add prime numbers to prove the conjecture, we developed a prime number function P_{odd}(x)p>2, including odd primes p > 2, isomorphic and equivalent to a function N_{odd}(x)n>1, including odd natural numbers greater than one, n_{odd} > 1, in which, the sum of three of its elements result in odd numbers greater than 7, proving the conjecture.

DeWaLoP in-pipe robot position from visual patterns

This article presents a methodology to position an in-pipe robot in the center of a pipe from a line matching algorithm applied to the unwrapped omni-directional camera located at the robots front-end. The advantage of use omni-directional camera inside the pipes is the relation between the cylindrical image obtained from the camera and the position of the camera on the robot inside the pipe, where by direct relation the circular features become linear. The DeWaLoP in-pipe robot objective is to redevelop the cast-iron pipe-joints of the over 100 years old fresh water supply systems of Vienna and Bratislava. In order to redevelop the pipes, the robot uses a rotating mechanism to clean and apply a sealing material to the pipe-joints. This mechanism must be set perfectly in the center of the pipe to work properly. Therefore, it is crucial to set the in-pipe robot in the center of the pipes horizontal x and y axes.

DeWaLoP In-pipe Robot Embedded System

Abstract This paper describes the development of an in-pipe robot embedded system implemented in the DewaLoP (Developing Water Loss Prevention) robot system. We define an embedded system as the configuration of CPU boards, peripherals and communication protocols to fulfill a defined task as if encapsulated in a microchip. The DeWaLoP in-pipe robot task is to redevelop the pipe-joint gaps of the fresh water systems of Vienna and Bratislava, the robot must be able to move inside the pipe, clean and apply a restoration material to seal these pipe-joints. The proposed embedded system is designed upon the functionality and system operation of the in-pipe robot, mimicking a finite-state machine (FSM) where at each state the robot modules are configured either to work independently or in conjunction to another module(s) depending on its previous state.