Undertaking work that can be lethal for people, the remote-controlled robot Crawler is engineered to restore the inner walls of pipelines in power plants. Regular maintenance here is important and the robot’s power and data cables need to be protected from the harsh environmental conditions. US manufacturer Remote Orbital Installations LLC relies on igus energy chains in the Crawler.
The Crawler is engineered to undertake the hazardous work of internal cleaning and relining of pipelines.
In 2007, a tragic accident at a power plant in Colorado showed how dangerous working in pipelines can be. When workers applied an epoxy coating inside a penstock that carries water to turbines, the flammable solvent ignited. Five people lost their lives. Remote Orbital Installations and Big Sky Engineering sought to safeguard other workers from such potentially fatal risks. The two US companies developed the Crawler – a remote-controlled robotic platform on four wheels that travels through pipelines, cleans the inner walls with a blasting tool and relines them with epoxy resin. The workers remain safe at the other end of the control cable.
In developing the Crawler, the engineers had to overcome a number of challenges, one being to find components that could withstand the dirty and humid environment inside the pipeline. Failure of any of the components could result in workers having to enter the pipe and expose themselves to danger. The selected components included guides designed to protect the robot's power and data cables from damage due to uncontrolled movement.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the US designers found what they were looking for at igus. The plastics motion specialist's energy chains provide guidance of energy and data cables at several points. For example, they guide the cables of the mechanism that adjusts the wheel width of the Crawler to the pipe diameter, as well as the cables of the boom, which handles the height adjustment of the tools. The safety of hanging cables is ensured by enclosed energy chains from the triflex series, which enables controlled, three-dimensional movements with twistable chain links.
All energy chains in the Crawler are made of a wear-resistant, robust, chemical-resistant and corrosion-free high-performance plastic that can reliably withstand the most adverse environments for years. Engineer Mike Kronz says, "The longevity of igus products was crucial to the Crawler's success. We've done several projects and haven't had a single failure."
The robot Crawler is one more example of an application of energy chains which is characterised by economic efficiency and the courage to be creative.
For more information visit: www.igus.eu
