Autonomous robotic crawler for in-pipe inspection

An autonomous robot for traversing a conduit comprising:

• a first section having a plurality of pitched wheels, said pitched wheels being oriented such that each of their axes defines a pitch angle greater than zero degrees and less than ninety degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis of the conduit;
• a second section rotatably connected to said first section, said second section having a plurality of wheels aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conduit;
• and
• means for causing rotation of one of said first and second sections relative to the other of said first and second sections;
• wherein said relative rotation of said first and second sections provides locomotive motion of the robot;
• and
• wherein at least one wheel is moveable between a first position in which all of said wheels on the same section contact said conduit and a second position in which at least one of said of said wheels is retracted.

An autonomous robot for traversing a conduit comprising:

• a body;
• and
• a drive system capable of extracting energy from a flow of fluid through the conduit and using the energy to advance the body along the inside of the conduit, said drive system including at least one set of pitched wheels mounted on said body, each of said pitched wheels being positioned at a different point along the length of the robot such that no two pitched wheels in said set are at the same point along the length of the robot;
• wherein at least one component of the robot has an outer diameter that substantially corresponds to the inside surface of the conduit and the robot includes at least one internal passageway that allows fluid to flow along the length of the robot without having to pass between said at least one component and the inside surface of the conduit.

An autonomous robot for traversing a conduit comprising:

• a body;
• and
• a drive system capable of extracting energy from a flow of fluid through the conduit and using the energy to advance the body along the inside of the conduit, said drive system including at least one set of pitched wheels mounted on said body;
• wherein at least one component of the robot has an outer diameter that substantially corresponds to the inside surface of the conduit and the robot includes at least one internal passageway that allows fluid to flow along the length of the robot without having to pass between said at least one component and the inside surface of the conduit;
• and
• wherein at least one wheel is moveable between a first position in which all of said wheels on the same section contact said conduit and a second position in which at least one of said of said wheels is retracted.