FABRICATION AND EVALUATION OF A CLAMSHELL LINE INSPECTION ROBOT

Authors

  • Mark James Ferrer Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gokongwei College of Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
  • Jeongrok Lee Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gokongwei College of Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
  • Marc Heinz Linsangan Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gokongwei College of Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
  • Nygel Gian Santillan Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gokongwei College of Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
  • Matthew Ezekiel Sybingco Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gokongwei College of Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
  • Alvin Chua Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gokongwei College of Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
  • Timothy Scott Chu Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gokongwei College of Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11113/aej.v14.20822

Keywords:

Clamshell design, Wire-riding robot, Pulse Width Modulation, NRF24L01, 3D printing

Abstract

There are several hazards associated with the task of power line inspection mainly relating to electrocution especially if there is damage to the wire. This hazard is mitigated with the use of power line inspection robots which allow for inspection from a safe distance. However current inspection robot designs are designed for high-tension wires instead of residential power lines making the robots unsuitable for use in residential power line inspection. In this study, an inspection robot for residential power lines is fabricated through 3D printing. A radio control system to control the robot was also built using Arduino Pro Minis and RF24 modules. The robot’s performance was tested in several different categories for both quantitative and qualitative results. Tests included measuring the speed of the robot, the amount of rotation or roll, battery life, signal range, and camera quality. In conclusion, the robot met several set parameters with a speed of 3.2455 km/h, a controllable range of 24 meters, a battery life exceeding 1 hour 14 minutes, and an average roll of 5.6 degrees. The camera feed and mirror setup also provided a clear view of both the top and underside of the wire allowing for inspection of wire damages.

References

D. J. Friedman. 2014. Electrical Safety Hazards and Safe Electrical Inspection Procedures for Electrical Inspectors & Home Inspectors. [Online] Available: https://inspectapedia.com/electric/Electrical_Inspector_Safety.php. Accessed October 2022.

N. Morozovsky and T. Bewley. 2013. SkySweeper: A low DOF, dynamic high wire robot. IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Tokyo: IEEE. 2339–2344. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2013.6696684.

POWER Magazine. 2020. The past, present, and future of Powerline Inspection Automation. [Online]. Available: https://www.powermag.com/the-past-present-and-future-of-powerline-inspection-automation/. Accessed October 2022.

D. Yang, Z. Feng, X. Ren, and N. Lu. 2014. A novel power line inspection robot with dual-parallelogram architecture and its vibration suppression control. Advanced Robotics. 28(12): 807–819. doi: 10.1080/01691864.2014.884936.

Y. G. Wang, H. D. Yu, and J. K. Xu. 2014. Design and simulation on inspection robot for high-voltage transmission lines. Applied Mechanics and Materials. 615: 173–180. doi: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.615.173.

N. Pouliot, P. Latulippe, and S. Montambault. 2009. Reliable and intuitive teleoperation of LineScout: A mobile robot for live transmission line maintenance. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. St. Louis: IEEE. 1703–1710. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2009.5354819.

A. Fonseca, R. Abdo, and J. Alberto. 2012. Robot for inspection of transmission lines. 2nd International Conference on Applied Robotics for the Power Industry. Zurich: IEEE Computer Society. 83–87. doi: 10.1109/CARPI.2012.6473356.

M. A. Gulzar, M. Sharif, K. Kumar, and M. A. Javed. 2018. High-Voltage Transmission Line Inspection Robot. 2018 International Conference on Engineering and Emerging Technologies (ICEET). Lahore: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/ICEET1.2018.8338632.

J. Katrašnik, F. Pernuš, and B. Likar. 2010. A survey of mobile robots for distribution power line inspection. IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery. 25(1): 485–493. doi: 10.1109/TPWRD.2009.2035427.

R. Qiu, X. Miao, S. Zhuang, H. Jiang, and J. Chen. 2017. Design and Implementation of An Autonomous Landing Control System of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Power Line Inspection. 2017 Chinese Automation Congress (CAC). Jinan: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/CAC.2017.8244120

S. Hrabar, T. Merz, and D. Frousheger. 2010. Development of an autonomous helicopter for aerial powerline inspections. 1st International Conference on Applied Robotics for the Power Industry. Montreal: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/CARPI.2010.5624432.

W. Chang, G. Yang, J. Yu, Z. Liang, L. Cheng, and C. Zhou. 2017. Development of a Power Line Inspection Robot with Hybrid Operation Modes. International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Vancouver: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/IROS.2017.8202263

SOCOTECO-1. 2021. Connection Standards for Residential. [Online] Available: https://socoteco-1.com/consumer-information/electric-service-standards/. Accessed June 2023.

TWI Global. 2020. What Is Pla? (Everything You Need To Know). [Online] Available: https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/what-is-pla#Properties. Accessed June 2023.

Fast Radius. 2021. Know your materials: acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA). [Online] Available: https://www.fastradius.com/resources/acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate-asa/. Accessed July 2023.

D. Nedelkovski. 2019. DIY Arduino RC Transmitter. [Online] Available: https://howtomechatronics.com/projects/diy-arduino-rc-transmitter/. Accessed June 2023.

D. Nedelkovski. 2020. DIY Arduino RC Receiver for RC Models and Arduino Projects. [Online] Available: https://howtomechatronics.com/projects/diy-arduino-rc-receiver/. Accessed June 2023.

Makerlab. 2020. Pro Mini 328-5V 16MHz based on Arduino®. [Online] Available: https://www.makerlab-electronics.com/products/arduino-pro-mini-328-5v-16mhz. Accessed October 2023.

e-Gizmo. 2019. HW-237 NRF24l01+PA+LNA 2.4GHz Long Distance RF Wireless Module with Antenna. [Online] Available: https://www.e-gizmo.net/gizmoshop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1615. Accessed October 2023.

e-Gizmo. 2019. Thumb Joystick 2 Axis. [Online] Available: https://www.e-gizmo.net/gizmoshop/index.php?route=product/product&search=joystick&product_id=1453&search=joystick. Accessed October 2023.

Handson Technology. 2019. 3420 Dual Ball Bearing Long Life DC Motor. [Online] Available: https://handsontec.com/dataspecs/motor_fan/XD3420-Motor.pdf. Accessed June 2023.

e-Gizmo. 2019. L298N Double H-Bridge DC Stepper Motor Driver. [Online] Available: https://www.e-gizmo.net/gizmoshop/index.php?route=product/product&search=l298&product_id=1307&search=l298. Accessed October 2023.

LiitoKala. 2019. Lii-35A. [Online] Available: http://www.liito-kala.com/page92?product_id=13. Accessed June 2023.

GoPro. 2022. HERO11 Black. [Online] Available: https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/cameras/hero11-black/CHDHX-111-master.html. Accessed September 2022.

P. Debenest and M. Guarnieri. 2010. Expliner - From prototype towards a practical robot for inspection of high-voltage lines. 1st International Conference on Applied Robotics for the Power Industry. Montreal: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/CARPI.2010.5624434.

A. Tarık Zengin, G. Erdemir, T. Cetin Akinci, F. Anil Selcuk, M. Nizamettin Erduran, and S. Serhat Seker. 2019. ROSETLineBot: One-Wheel-Drive Low-Cost Power Line Inspection Robot Design and Control. Journal of Electrical Systems. 15(4): 626–634. doi: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1911.08173

Downloads

Published

2024-05-31

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2: June 2024

Section

Articles

How to Cite

FABRICATION AND EVALUATION OF A CLAMSHELL LINE INSPECTION ROBOT. (2024). ASEAN Engineering Journal, 14(2), 111-120. https://doi.org/10.11113/aej.v14.20822