{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]],"date-time":"2025-10-01T16:19:26Z","timestamp":1759335566977,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":12,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2006,7,1]],"date-time":"2006-07-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1151712000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2006,7,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>The development of a novel omni\u2010directional inspection robot is presented, which is capable of delivering NDT sensors to surfaces on straight pipe, pipe bends and branch connections, overcoming the limitation that a test area over a pipe bend or past a branch or other obstruction raise.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>The lightweight crawler is attached on the outside of the pipe to the thin metal strip that holds the insulation in place without deforming the insulation through the application of a force controlled clamping mechanism while performing longitudinal, circumferential and arbitrary movements. In order to be able to cope with a range of pipe, materials and coverings, to allow for future modifications and to be able to incorporate a wide range of NDT inspection equipment, a modular approach was considered for the design of the mobile robot. Either two different inspection sensors may be mechanically incorporated into the chassis of the crawler and deployed at the same time or just a double\u2010sided acting sensor (e.g. X\u2010ray).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The developed omni\u2010directional mobile robot is capable of delivering NDT sensors to the external surfaces on straight pipe, pipe bends and branch connections, overcoming the limitation that a test area over a pipe bend or past a branch or other obstruction raise. Either a double\u2010sided acting sensor or two different inspection sensors may be mechanically incorporated and deployed at the same time. Future work will primarily include optimisation of the current design of the crawler aiming at further reduction of its size and weight but without sacrificing the rigidness of the chassis. A perfectly balanced system, which in turn will lead to smaller DC servo motors, will be obtained either by systematic placement of various subsystems and components on the periphery of the chassis or by putting counterbalancing weights in appropriate locations on the chassis. Design and manufacture of custom\u2010made omni\u2010wheels exclusively for use with the proposed clawer is also included in the scope of future work. Finally, a sophisticated control scheme for special, uncommon and fully automated inspection routines will be developed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>Today, there are no commercially available current inspection techniques that can accurately detect significant corrosion or other types of defects in pipework under thick coatings. Another limitation is that current inspection techniques can only be applied manually by highly trained operators. Recent PANI trials, carried out to assess the effectiveness of manual inspections have shown that operators detect only 50 per cent of defects. Commercial scanners have been developed for scanning pipe girth welds and lengths of straight pipe with inspection sensors. These are primarily ultrasonic sensors and the scanning is in simple <jats:italic>X<\/jats:italic>\u2010<jats:italic>Y<\/jats:italic> routines. These scanners either move around the pipe on tracks or along the pipe on magnetic wheels. However, these cannot work on curved surfaces around pipe bends and in the vicinity of valves, branches and other features in the pipe. Unluckily, these are areas where corrosion is most likely to occur.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/01439910610667917","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2006,7,4]],"date-time":"2006-07-04T08:20:05Z","timestamp":1152001205000},"page":"291-297","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["On the development of a modular external\u2010pipe crawling omni\u2010directional mobile robot"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"33","author":[{"given":"P.","family":"Chatzakos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Y.P.","family":"Markopoulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"K.","family":"Hrissagis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"A.","family":"Khalid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b5","unstructured":"Australian Maritime Safety Authority (2005), Major Oil Spills in Australia\u2010Al Qurain, Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Canberra, available at: www.amsa.gov.au, October."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b2","unstructured":"Davis, P.M. et al. (2000), \u201cPerformance of cross\u2010country oil pipelines in Western Europe\u201d, statistical summary of reported spillages, CONCAWE Oil Pipelines Management Group."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b4","unstructured":"Environment Canada (2005), Oil Pollution and Birds, Environment Canada, Gatineau, available at: www.cws\u2010scf.ec.ca, May."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b6","unstructured":"Friends of the Earth (1994), \u201cThe big waste \u2013 adding up the barrels\u201d, Friends of the Earth, Washington, DC."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b10","unstructured":"Frohlich (1998), \u201cInspection systems and safety report\u201d, European Commission Seveso Directive Seminar, Rome, 23\u201025."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b7","unstructured":"Haile, S. (2000), Oil Pollution, University of Newcastle on Tyne, Newcastle on Tyne."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b9","unstructured":"Health & Safety Executive (2001\u20102002), \u201cOffshore injury and incident statistics (provisional data)\u201d, Hazardous Installations Directorate, Offshore Division, Bristol, available at: www.hse.gov.uk."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b12","unstructured":"Heckhauser, H. and Schulz, S. (1995), \u201cAdvanced technology in automatic weld inspection of pipeline girth welds\u201d, Insight, Vol. 37 No. 6, pp. 440\u20105."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b1","unstructured":"Lyons, D. (1998), \u201cWestern European cross\u2010country oil pipelines\u201d, 25\u2010years performance statistics, CONCAWE Oil Pipelines Management Group, June."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b11","unstructured":"McGrath, B. (1999), \u201cThe effectiveness and performance of normal industrial NDT techniques and procedures\u201d, PANI, Health and Safety Executive (USE) UK, available at: AEA Technology pic report IVC99\/56."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b8","unstructured":"Patin, S. (2005), \u201cOil pollution of the sea\u2010environmental impact of the offshore oil and gas industry\u201d, available at: www.researchandmarkets.ac.uk, October."},{"key":"key2021010620421271200_b3","unstructured":"United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association (1998), Emissions and Discharges, United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association, London, available at: www.oilandgas.org.uk, November."}],"container-title":["Industrial Robot: An International Journal"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/01439910610667917\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/01439910610667917\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T23:50:03Z","timestamp":1753401003000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/ir\/article\/33\/4\/291-297\/434837"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Jeanne","family":"Dietsch","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2006,7,1]]},"references-count":12,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2006,7,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/01439910610667917"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/01439910610667917","relation":{},"ISSN":["0143-991X"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"0143-991X"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2006,7,1]]}}}