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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HYFLIERS (HYbrid FLying-rollIng with-snakE-aRm robot for contact inSpection)

Teaser

Summary

Overview

HYFLIERS is a research and innovation action (RIA) of EU Horizon 2020 programme for advanced robot capabilities research and take-up, worth 3,9 million euro funding.

HYFLIERS will develop the world\'s first industrial integrated robot with hybrid air and ground mobility with a long-reach hyper-redundant manipulator capable of reaching sites where no other robot can access, reducing the exposition of human inspectors to potentially dangerous working conditions. Targeting ultrasonic thickness measurements for oil and gas refineries and chemical plants, the results could be applied to many other robotic inspection technologies.

The consortium is composed of eight partners from Finland, Spain, Italy, France and Switzerland, including high reputation universities, research institutes, industrial partners with research and innovation development capabilities, and two world leader oil and gas industrial companies.

Objective

Focusing on non-destructive contact measurements but with potential application to a wider set of industrial scenarios, the scope of HYFLIERS project is to study and develop solutions to perform inspection measurements with reduced exposure to risks and costs. To this end, the first accurate controlled hybrid aerial-ground robot with a hyper-redundant lightweight robotic articulated arm equipped with an inspection sensor will be developed together with supporting services for efficient and safe navigation in complex and safety-critical environments.

Motivation

In oil and gas production plants, all or part of the components are often subject to degradation caused by exposure to the environment or products within the production process. Excessive pipe corrosion may lead to accidents, including catastrophic failures with explosions and release of toxic products, thus having impact on safety, environment and availability of the plant.

Inspection processes for thickness measurements ensure that plants are in safe operating condition or provide alerts to execute necessary corrective actions. These measurements are traditionally executed by personnel that requires access to specific locations. Typically, more than 50% (and up to 90%) of these activities are carried out by working at elevated locations with the use of ladders, scaffold, rope access or cranes, and sometimes in presence of high temperatures or toxic materials. Obviously, this causes considerable costs for ensuring safety of inspection personnel but in some cases, casualties may occur. Moreover, anxiety and exposure to dangerous locations affects concentration and promote human errors.

There are safety, quality and cost drivers for novel inspection methods.

Consortium
- University of Oulu (coordinator), Finland, www.oulu.fi, www.oulu.fi/bisg
- University of Seville, Spain, www.us.es, grvc.us.es
- Chevron Oronite, France, www.oronite.com
- Total, France, www.total.com
- Consorzio di Ricerca per lâ€™Energia e le Tecnologie dellâ€™Elettromagnetismo C.R.E.A.T.E., Italy, www.create.unina.it, prisma.dieti.unina.it
- Advanced Center for Aerospace Technologies FADA-CATEC, Spain, www.catec.aero
- General Electric Inspection Robotics, Switzerland, inspection-robotics.com
- Dasel sistemas, Spain, www.daselsistemas.com

Work performed

Updates on the economic relevance of non-destructive testing (NDT) inspection in oil and gas industry. Overview of existing inspection methods of possible damage mechanisms. Specification of end-user requirements: description, importance and success criteria.

Definitions and nomenclature for use in HYFLIERS. Basic requirements and initial outline (including architecture and hardware and software design approaches) of inspection sensor, hybrid robot and operation support system. Phases of operation and design choices, including alternatives with advantages and disadvantages.

Assumptions for thickness measurements and relative regulations. Ultrasound testing (UT) probe coupling and thickness measurement techniques. UT system specification and architecture. Selection of technologies for the hybrid mobile robot (HMR) and hybrid robot with arm (HRA) prototypes.

Design requirements and principles, avionics and sensors for HMR and HRA. Design requirements and approach for the robotic arm for aerial inspection tasks. Operation support system hardware. Measurement data management. Navigation support.

Design principles and realisation of the project web site. Dissemination plan and intermediate report. Project presentation poster. Data management plan. Ethical requirements.

Final results

Implementation

HYFLIERS will address the above objectives (see overall objectives above) by studying, designing, developing and testing a robotic system including prototypes for the first worldwide hybrid aerial/ground robot with a hyper-redundant lightweight robotic articulated arm equipped with an inspection sensing sub-system and a ground support unit for efficient and safe inspection in industrial sites.
The robot will be equipped with interfaces for teleoperation, but it will also possess automatic collision detection and avoidance. This will ensure accurate positioning, guidance, landing and rolling on constrained surfaces, such as pipes. The control system also integrating environment perception and aerodynamic control will moreover include a mission planning system to optimise the use of the robot in the inspection and therefore bringing energy savings.

Expected impact

HYFLIERS will decrease the cost and risks of current human inspection in production plants. The technology results will be validated in the inspection of pipes, which is a very relevant short-term application, but the results of the project could be also applied to other industrial scenarios, such as power generation plants.

Impact achieved at the end of the reporting period

The socio-economic impact achieved so far is achieved through dissemination of the intermediate results through scientific journal articles, and presentations at scientific conferences and professional conferences and exhibitions, including participation at the Maker Faire in Rome, Italy, an event with more than 100 000 visitors. The internal exploitation has also started.