Systems, methods and apparatus for in-service tank inspections

A submersible vehicle to inspect a tank containing a flammable fluid, comprising:

• a pressure switch, a propeller, a battery, a control unit, an inspection device, and a ranging device, the control unit and the battery located within the submersible vehicle;
• the pressure switch detecting when a pressure of the fluid external to the submersible vehicle is greater than a predetermined pressure threshold, and after detecting that the pressure of the fluid external to the submersible vehicle is greater than the predetermined pressure threshold, closing a circuit between the control unit and the battery;
• the battery of the vehicle providing power to the propeller, the control unit, the inspection device, and the ranging device;
• the control unit generating, based on data received from the ranging device, a map of the tank, and determining a first position of the vehicle on the map of the tank;
• the propeller of the vehicle, electrically connected to the battery, moving the vehicle through the flammable fluid in the tank;
• the inspection device, electrically connected to the battery, determining a quality metric of a portion of the tank;
• the control unit, electrically connected to the battery, the ranging device, the propeller, and the inspection device, configured to:
• retrieve, from a memory element, a value for a characteristic property of the flammable fluid in the tank;
• set, based on the value of the characteristic property of the flammable fluid in the tank, a speed of the propeller;
• cause the propeller to move the vehicle from the first position to a second position within the tank in accordance with the speed set based on the characteristic property of the flammable fluid retrieved from the memory element;
• determine, via the inspection device, the quality metric for the portion of the tank at the second position within the tank;
• and
• store, in a data structure in memory of the vehicle, the quality metric corresponding to the second position within the tank.