Robots to inspect piping.

Imagine the drain is clogged and not a single drop is flowing down. A common problem – the cause can be hidden in the far corners of a sewage system. This is where inspection robots come into play to hunt for the cause. Motors by maxon provide the robotic vehicles with a precision drive, among other uses.

Inspection robots combining reliability and versatility

Robots are increasingly being used for fully automated tasks that would be too dangerous, monotonous, or simply unacceptable for a human. For example, today innovative systems such as inspection robots for sewage pipes are used worldwide for high-precision damage detection. There are even inspection robots that can climb 90 meters high onto wind turbines to inspect the rotor blades of the wind energy generators. Underground pipelines that stretch across many kilometers are highly complex systems. Nevertheless, these systems have to function very reliably at all times. Regular inspection is therefore indispensable to avoid damage caused by corrosion, cracks, and mechanical wear. Yet the narrow, labyrinthine sewer systems are frequently inaccessible for humans – this is where only technical equipment can save the day. Today many different devices are available, for everything from inspections to remedying faults and breakdowns. Depending on the type of application, the sewer robots come in different sizes and with different tools and other specific features.

From simple inspection units to complete systems, iPEK International GmbH based in Sulzberg (Germany) and Hirschegg (Austria) provides a wide range of robots for pipe and sewer inspections. The company, which was founded in 1988, develops camera systems and driving units for sewer inspection, such as the modular “ROVION®” inspection system.

From simple inspection units to complete systems, iPEK International GmbH based in Sulzberg (Germany) and Hirschegg (Austria) provides a wide range of robots for pipe and sewer inspections. The company, which was founded in 1988, develops camera systems and driving units for sewer inspection, such as the modular “ROVION®” inspection system.

maxon drives to meet extreme requirements

The drives for these sewer robots have to withstand the high stresses inherent to the difficult conditions. The requirements therefore include a very high power density, to allow smaller sizes. This is an important criterion, especially for applications in narrow spaces. In addition, the motors need to have smooth power curves, to allow highly accurate motor control. If a planetary gearhead is used, it must have high efficiency. And the motor-gearhead units used need to have an excellent build quality, as they will be subjected to high stresses. Motors from maxon meet all these requirements. The maxon motors are used mainly as drive motors for the driving units of the ROVION®, SuperVision®, and ROVVER® inspection systems. All motors are coupled with a matching gearhead.

The largest maxon motor used in iPEK products is the brushless EC-max 30, with a power of 60 W. The ROVION® driving units are each equipped with one EC-max motor with a diameter of 22 mm. This drive is also the smallest motor used in the driving units. Each driving unit is equipped with two drives (left and right) to enable steering of the vehicles. Some of the various camera heads for the sewer robots are equipped with medium-sized motors for panning, rotating, and focusing movements. The smallest combination used consists of a maxon RE 6 DC motor, an energy-efficient direct current motor with a diameter of only 6 mm. This drive is used in a highly flexible camera head, in combination with a planetary gearhead. The camera heads with LED lighting have a pan range of ±135° allowing inspection of every nook and cranny of the pipeline system, as well as full rotation around their own axis. Other motors are used for the lift drive of the camera lifter.