Remote controlled industrial pipe cleaning robot

Final year Mechanical Engineering department students of Don Bosco College of Engineering, Fatorda, Goa, Sujay Shirodkar, Osburn Vas, Leny Cardozo, Savio Gracias and Stevan Fernandes have designed and fabricated an “Industrial Pipe Cleaning Robot” to remove dirt, mud, aggregates, scales etc. from inside of the pipes. The project was guided by Head of the Department, Prof. Ajit Salunke. The 3 track microcontroller based robot which has in built vision system for inspection, IR sensors for obstacle avoidance and limit switches for safety interlocks can clean pipes of 10 to 14 inch diameter. Forward cleaning action is accomplished by high pressure water jet and a rotary nylon brush. In order to remotely control the robot, a Bluetooth module is installed as an add-on, which can pair up with any Bluetooth enabled device and can be operated using a cell phone. This provides the advantage of lightweight operation and also makes the robot highly mobile and flexible. The Bluetooth module has a range of 10m which makes it easy to access over a long range. The device finds application across industries like chemical, fertilizer, pharmaceutical, dairy etc. The robot was exhibited in “Ksitij 2015”, a Project expo organized by the college and got the 2nd place in “Mechanical Academic Projects” category. The students aim to apply for patenting of the project.