Internal pipe coating inspection robot

A line travel inspection robot for inspecting an interior coating of a pipeline for the presence of imperfections, comprising:

• (a) a circumferential conductive brush positionable to be placed into contact with the interior coating of the pipeline, said conductive brush being oriented transversely to a longitudinal center axis of said pipeline and extending through an arc of substantially 360°, thereby simultaneously contacting substantially all of an inner circumference of the pipeline;
• (b) a capacitive pad, said pad being positionable to be in contact with the interior coating of the pipeline;
• (c) a high voltage power source in electrical communication with said conductive brush, said power source at least being adapted for creating a pulsed current between said conductive brush and said capacitive pad;
• and,
• (d) a pulse detector in electronic communication with said power source and said capacitive pad, said pulse detector at least being adapted for detecting a pulsed current from said power source through said conductive brush and said capacitive pad.

An inspection robot for inspecting an interior coating of a pipeline for the presence of imperfections, comprising:

• (a) a robot body;
• (b) a conductive brush supported by said robot body and positionable to be placed into contact with the interior coating of the pipeline, said brush being operable to examine an inner circumference of said pipeline;
• (c) a capacitive pad, supported by said robot body, said pad being positionable to be placed in contact with the interior coating of the pipeline;
• (d) a high voltage power source in electrical communication with said conductive brush and said capacitive pad, said power source at least being adapted for creating a pulsed current between said conductive brush and said capacitive pad;
• and,
• (e) a pulse detector in electronic communication with said power source and said capacitive pad, said pulse detector at least being adapted for determining an amplitude of a pulsed current from said power source through said conductive brush and said capacitive pad.

A line travel inspection robot for inspecting an interior coating of a metal pipeline for the presence of imperfections, comprising:

• (a) a robot body;
• (b) a circumferential conductive brush supported by said robot body and positionable to be placed into contact with the interior coating of the pipeline, said conductive brush being oriented transversely to a longitudinal center axis of said pipeline when so positioned and extending through an arc of substantially 360°, thereby simultaneously contacting substantially all of an inner circumference of the pipeline;
• (c) a grounding wire positionable to be in electrical communication with an uncoated portion of the pipeline;
• (d) a high voltage power source in electrical communication with said conductive brush and with said grounding wire;
• and,
• (e) a conductivity detector in electronic communication with said power source, said grounding wire and said conductive brush, said conductivity detector being adapted for detecting a current from said power source through said grounding wire and said conductive brush.