Robotic inspection apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A robotic assembly adapted to traverse a surface of a member and comprising:
- a mobile robot including a body equipped with spaced apart, shiftable traction elements for engaging said surface and moving said body therealong, and means for independent shifting movement of at least certain of the traction elements respectively; and
means for holding said mobile robot with said elements in tractive engagement with said surface, including an elongated tether assembly operatively coupled with said body and extending about said member, and means for selectively adjusting the tension of said tether assembly in order to hold said traction elements against said surface.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A robotic assembly (20) is provided which is adapted to traverse the surface of a member (138) for inspection and/or work on or about the surface of the member (138). The preferred assembly (20) includes two or more robots (10a-10c) spaced about the body (138) with a tether assembly (140) interconnecting the robots (10a-10c) in order to hold the latter in tractive engagement with the surface of the body (138). Each of the robots (10a-10c) includes rotatable traction wheel assemblies (16) which are independently controllable through respective drive motors (86), as well as independently controllable takeup reels (98) for adjusting the tension of the tether assembly (140). Each robot (10a-10c) preferably includes an elongated body (12) having four corner-mounted wheel assemblies (16) pivotally secured thereto, and a carriage (14) pivotally coupled to the body for pivoting thereof independently of the wheel assemblies (16) and about an axis transverse to the wheel assembly pivot axes. An operating unit (18) such as an imaging device is carried by the carriage (14). A microprocessor-based control (22) allows precise, remote operation of the assembly (20).
177 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A robotic assembly adapted to traverse a surface of a member and comprising:
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a mobile robot including a body equipped with spaced apart, shiftable traction elements for engaging said surface and moving said body therealong, and means for independent shifting movement of at least certain of the traction elements respectively; and means for holding said mobile robot with said elements in tractive engagement with said surface, including an elongated tether assembly operatively coupled with said body and extending about said member, and means for selectively adjusting the tension of said tether assembly in order to hold said traction elements against said surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A mobile robot comprising:
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a body; a pair of spaced apart, shiftable traction elements adapted to engage a surface over which a robot is to traverse; means pivotally mounting said traction elements to said body for independent pivoting movement thereof relative to the body; means for independent shifting movement of said of the traction elements respectively; a carriage pivotally coupled to said body for pivoting thereof independently of the pivoting of said traction elements; and an operating unit supported on said carriage for carrying out a desired operation on or adjacent said surface. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of performing an operation on or adjacent a surface of an elongated member, said method comprising the steps of:
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placing at least one mobile robot in engagement with a surface region of said elongated member, said mobile robot including a body equipped with a pair of spaced apart, shiftable, surface-engaging traction elements; holding said mobile robot in tractive engagement with said surface region by a tether assembly operatively coupled with the mobile robot; and selectively and individually shifting the traction elements of said mobile robot and simultaneously adjusting the tension of said tether assembly for causing said robot to traverse said surface region. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification