Semi-Autonomous In-Pipe Inspection and Monitoring Robot for Gas Pipelines: Design, Development, and Experimental Validation

Arshad Ali Khan; Muhammad Rafay Ali; Muhammad Sudais; Muhammad Abid; Kamran Nawaz

Authors

Arshad Ali Khan Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan
Muhammad Rafay Ali Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan
Muhammad Sudais Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan
Muhammad Abid Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan
Kamran Nawaz Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan

Keywords:

In-pipe Inspection Robot, Gas Pipeline, Pantograph Mechanism, Ultrasonic Sensing, LoRa Communication

Abstract

Gas pipelines form an essential component of energy infrastructure, playing a vital role in delivering natural gas safely and economically for industrial, commercial, and domestic use. The networks in Pakistan are owned by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) which span thousands of kilometers or which have a total length of thousands of kilometers and therefore require periodic inspection, which is a very challenging logistical task. Traditional techniques (manual visual inspection and pipeline inspection gauges (PIGs)) are labor-intensive, dangerous, and often fail to detect defects during their early phase—such as micro-cracks or localized corrosion. This paper describes the design, development, and experimental validation of an in-pipe inspection and monitoring robot that was designed for the 14–16-inch-diameter gas distribution pipelines. The robot incorporates two mechanisms: a pantographic mechanism is used for primary radial traction, and a telescopic mechanism is used for passive wall-contact support for different pipe diameter variations. The built-in inspection equipment includes a 5.8 GHz first-person view (FPV) camera system, a long-range communication module (LoRa SX1278, 433 MHz), a NEO-6M GPS module for defect location, and a wall thickness measurement module (HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor array). The propulsion system is powered by a set of 6 12V DC gear motors (12V60-70Rpm) which are controlled by an Arduino Mega ATmega2560 microcontroller. The prototype is made of PLA (3D-printed) and acrylic (laser cut), and its overall weight is 3.7kg, with a length of 460 mm. The experimental trials successfully showed that the proposed low-cost design can achieve the following performances to enable real-time inspection of 14–16 inch gas distribution pipelines: mean traversal speed of 0.169 ± 0.002 m/s (n = 5, 95% CI: 0.167–0.171 m/s, coefficient of variation 1.2%); continuous inspection endurance of 21 min 15 s (≈215 m per run at 76 W average power draw); wall-thickness measurement repeatable within 6 mm (≤4.1% of the nominal 145 mm wall distance) at 9 out of 13 test locations; GPS defect localization being accurate to within ±2–3 m; and LoRa telemetry being accurate within sub-100 ms latency and sustained up to 1 km line-of-sight distance and 0.6 km in an urban environment.

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