Natural gas leaks on the lines will not be able to escape from the In-Pipe Inspection Robot developed by the TUBITAK Rail Transport Technologies Institute (RUTE) after 4 years of work. The robot, whose short name is "Robot Eye", will detect gas leaks in natural gas line pipes with its 900 sensors on it. Robot Eye, developed by TÜBİTAK RUTE for İGDAŞ and signed by Turkish engineers, will detect natural gas leaks instantly.
Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank shared a video on the subject on his Twitter account. Pointing out that Turkey is the second country after the USA to develop its own inspection robot, Varank said, “In the project initiated by TUBITAK for Istanbul Gas and Natural Gas Distribution Inc. (İGDAŞ) in 2017, 'Robot Göz' detects faults and leaks in natural gas lines. . This will save millions of dollars. Istanbul will not lag behind in terms of service and technology.” used the phrase.
Mehmet Ali Çimen, Director of TÜBİTAK RUTE, 545 km. Stating that he will inspect the long line, “This technology is similar only in the USA. Normally you rent them and pay per kilometer. At the moment, we have eliminated external dependency by having this technology. Our robot can also map. With this robot, we will be able to learn whether the pipes can be used after the earthquake and whether they are displaced or not.” said.
Robot Eye has successfully completed the 2 and a half kilometer wireless communication test in the pipe. TUBITAK Robotic Intelligent Systems Group Chief Specialist Researcher and project coordinator Dr. Huseyin Ayhan Yavaşoğlu gave it to him. Stating that the most important feature of the robot eye is the magnetic flux leakage sensor, Yavaşoğlu said, “This is the heart of Robot Eye. It has 900 sensors on it. With these sensors, we can detect defects both inside the pipe and on its outer surface.” said.
Noting that the robot eye consists of 9 modules, Yavaşoğlu said, “It has a snake-like structure. It can make steering and rotational movements and can move easily in complex city pipelines thanks to this structure. We have lasers in camera modules. We project laser in the form of a circle. By examining the change of this laser, we detect whether there is any deformation in the pipes.” he said.
Yavaşoğlu stated that the robot eye, which is completely wireless, communicates through the pipe thanks to the antennas in the camera modules, “This is a difficult robot project because there are 247 electronic cards and 3 microcomputers. One of the most difficult aspects of this project is that the environment in which it will work is very challenging. The robot needs to operate while there is flow. You need to develop a robotic system that can move against the flow and operate under pressure up to 30 bar.” said.
Emphasizing that the mechanics, design, hardware and software of the robot eye were completely developed by TÜBİTAK RUTE, Yavaşoğlu said, “We are proud that this was developed by local engineers. More than 20 Turkish engineers are working on this project. We continue to work to use our robot on the live line as soon as possible.” he said.
TÜBİTAK Chief Specialist Researcher, Robotic Intelligent Systems Group Leader Dr. Yusuf Engin Tetik noted that the data obtained from the robot eye were evaluated after the operation and said, “Data from 900 different sensors are kept in a recording mechanism within the robot itself. It is processed after the operation. Errors are found later.” said.
TÜBİTAK RUTE Director Dr. Mehmet Ali Çimen said that the project idea was brought to them by İGDAŞ, a subsidiary of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, in 2017, and that the robot eye was 12 km. He stated that he would inspect the long line. Emphasizing that this technology is only available in the USA, RUTE Manager Çimen said, “Normally, you rent them and pay per kilometer. At the moment, we are eliminating external dependency by having this technology. Beyond that, we are able to serve both our region and the world by renting this robot.” he said.
Çimen said that the fact that these developments are taking place in a civilian sector in Turkey is a source of pride for them and said, “Our robot can also map. We can tell where it goes in the pipe it goes to.” used the phrases. Çimen said, “With this robot, we will be able to learn whether pipes can be used after an earthquake or not, whether they can be moved or not.” said.
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