Micro Robots to Fix Underground Pipes and Help Cut Roadworks
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
New investment to create tiny robots that can help repair the UK’s vast underground pipe network and prevent disruption of roadworks in the future.
- £26.6 million investment to build micro robots that can help repair the UK’s vast underground pipe network preventing disruptive roadworks and using robotics in hazardous work environments to avoid workplace injury
- robots - including flying and underwater versions – will also inspect and maintain oil and gas pressure vessels and offshore wind turbines
- funding from the government’s modern Industrial Strategy to invest in the industries of tomorrow
New micro robots will be built to repair the UK’s huge underground pipe network, significantly cutting the disruption caused by the 1.5 million road excavations that take place every year.
Scientists from 4 British universities will use £7 million government investment to develop 1 cm-long robotic devices that use sensors and navigation systems to find and mend cracks in pipes. The traffic closures and disruption to businesses of these roadworks are estimated to amount to more than £5 billion. A further 14 projects backed by £19.6 million government investment, through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), will see robots sent to hazardous workplaces such as offshore wind-farms and nuclear-decommissioning facilities. Researchers will test new technologies, such as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) software on satellites in orbit to detect when repairs are needed, and drones for oil pipeline monitoring.
Source: GOV.UK
Media
Taxonomy
- Pipes Design
- Infrastructure
- Civil Engineering
- Installations
- Integrated Infrastructure
- Design & Construction
- Efficiency Improvement
- Urban Water Infrastructure
- Infrastructure Management
- Distribution Network Management
- Utility Pipe Network
- Multi-Sensor Pipelines
- Road Construction
- M S Pipeline Construction
- Pipeline Installation & Maintenance
- Pipeline Rehabilitation
- Assembly Robots
- Roads
- Roads & Bridges
- Distribution
- Pipes and Pipelines