Autonomous, Collaborative, and Confined Infrastructure Assessment with Purpose-Built Mega-Joey Robots
The inspection of sewer pipes in the UK is costly, and if not inspected regularly, they are costly and disruptive to repair. This paper presents the Mega-Joey, a novel miniature, tether-less robot platform that is capable of autonomously navigating and assessing confined spaces, such as small-diamet...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Robotics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/14/6/80 |
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| author | Hitesh Bhardwaj Nabil Shaukat Andrew Barber Andy Blight George Jackson-Mills Andrew Pickering Manman Yang Muhammad Azam Mohd Sharif Linyan Han Songyan Xin Robert Richardson |
| author_facet | Hitesh Bhardwaj Nabil Shaukat Andrew Barber Andy Blight George Jackson-Mills Andrew Pickering Manman Yang Muhammad Azam Mohd Sharif Linyan Han Songyan Xin Robert Richardson |
| author_sort | Hitesh Bhardwaj |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The inspection of sewer pipes in the UK is costly, and if not inspected regularly, they are costly and disruptive to repair. This paper presents the Mega-Joey, a novel miniature, tether-less robot platform that is capable of autonomously navigating and assessing confined spaces, such as small-diameter underground pipelines. This paper also discusses a novel decentralized event-based-broadcasting autonomous exploration algorithm designed for exploring such pipe networks collaboratively. The designed robot is able to operate in pipes with an inclination of up to 20 degrees in dry and up to 10 degrees in wet conditions. A team of Mega-Joeys was used to explore a test network using the proposed algorithm. The experimental results show that the team of robots was able to explore a 3850 mm long test network within a faster period (36% faster) and in a more energy-efficient manner (approximately 54% more efficient) than a single robot could achieve. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-045242910da847b7b6a367a627eae186 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2218-6581 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Robotics |
| spelling | doaj-art-045242910da847b7b6a367a627eae1862025-08-20T02:21:53ZengMDPI AGRobotics2218-65812025-06-011468010.3390/robotics14060080Autonomous, Collaborative, and Confined Infrastructure Assessment with Purpose-Built Mega-Joey RobotsHitesh Bhardwaj0Nabil Shaukat1Andrew Barber2Andy Blight3George Jackson-Mills4Andrew Pickering5Manman Yang6Muhammad Azam Mohd Sharif7Linyan Han8Songyan Xin9Robert Richardson10Institute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKInstitute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKInstitute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKInstitute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKInstitute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKInstitute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKInstitute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKInstitute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKInstitute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKInstitute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKInstitute of Design, Robotics and Manufacturing, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKThe inspection of sewer pipes in the UK is costly, and if not inspected regularly, they are costly and disruptive to repair. This paper presents the Mega-Joey, a novel miniature, tether-less robot platform that is capable of autonomously navigating and assessing confined spaces, such as small-diameter underground pipelines. This paper also discusses a novel decentralized event-based-broadcasting autonomous exploration algorithm designed for exploring such pipe networks collaboratively. The designed robot is able to operate in pipes with an inclination of up to 20 degrees in dry and up to 10 degrees in wet conditions. A team of Mega-Joeys was used to explore a test network using the proposed algorithm. The experimental results show that the team of robots was able to explore a 3850 mm long test network within a faster period (36% faster) and in a more energy-efficient manner (approximately 54% more efficient) than a single robot could achieve.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/14/6/80wheeled robotpipeline inspectionminiaturecollaborativeautonomousrobotics teams |
| spellingShingle | Hitesh Bhardwaj Nabil Shaukat Andrew Barber Andy Blight George Jackson-Mills Andrew Pickering Manman Yang Muhammad Azam Mohd Sharif Linyan Han Songyan Xin Robert Richardson Autonomous, Collaborative, and Confined Infrastructure Assessment with Purpose-Built Mega-Joey Robots Robotics wheeled robot pipeline inspection miniature collaborative autonomous robotics teams |
| title | Autonomous, Collaborative, and Confined Infrastructure Assessment with Purpose-Built Mega-Joey Robots |
| title_full | Autonomous, Collaborative, and Confined Infrastructure Assessment with Purpose-Built Mega-Joey Robots |
| title_fullStr | Autonomous, Collaborative, and Confined Infrastructure Assessment with Purpose-Built Mega-Joey Robots |
| title_full_unstemmed | Autonomous, Collaborative, and Confined Infrastructure Assessment with Purpose-Built Mega-Joey Robots |
| title_short | Autonomous, Collaborative, and Confined Infrastructure Assessment with Purpose-Built Mega-Joey Robots |
| title_sort | autonomous collaborative and confined infrastructure assessment with purpose built mega joey robots |
| topic | wheeled robot pipeline inspection miniature collaborative autonomous robotics teams |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/14/6/80 |
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