A project called ‘Robot Eye’, which detects natural gas leaks, was developed by TÜBİTAK. The project has the ability to instantly detect natural gas leaks in lines with its “In-Pipe Inspection Robot”. Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank shared a video on the subject on his Twitter account and used the following statements:
In the project initiated by TÜBİTAK for Istanbul Gas and Natural Gas Distribution Inc. (İGDAŞ) in 2017, ‘Robot Eye’ detects faults and leaks in natural gas lines. This will save millions of dollars. Istanbul will not lag behind in service and technology.
Robot Eye will detect leaks with its 900 sensors:
According to the written statement made by the Ministry, Robot Eye was designed by Turkish engineers for İGDAŞ. Developed by TÜBİTAK RUTE as a result of 4 years of work, the project will detect gas leaks in natural gas pipes with its 900 sensors.
Mehmet Ali Çimen, Director of TÜBİTAK RUTE, stated in the statement that the idea for the project was brought to them by İGDAŞ in 2017. Noting that Robot Göz will inspect the 12 and 16 inch 545 kilometer line of İGDAŞ, Çimen pointed out that this technology is only available in the USA.
‘With this project, we are eliminating external dependency’
Çimen said about the project, “Normally, you rent them and pay per kilometer. Currently, we have this technology, eliminating external dependency. Beyond that, we are able to serve both our region and the world with this robot by renting it. Our robot is also capable of mapping. “We can tell where the pipe passes through. With this robot, we will be able to learn whether the pipes can be used after the earthquake and whether they can be relocated during an earthquake,” he said.
The 2 and a half kilometer wireless communication test has been successfully completed:
TÜBİTAK Robotic Intelligent Systems Group Chief Expert Researcher and Project Coordinator Dr. Hüseyin Ayhan Yavaşoğlu also stated that Robot Eye has successfully completed the 2 and a half kilometer wireless communication test inside the pipe. Yavaşoğlu explained the “magnetic current leakage sensor”, which is the most important feature of Robot Eye, and the details of the robot with the following words:
This is the heart of Robot Eye. It has 900 sensors on it. With these sensors, we can detect defects both inside the pipe and on its outer surface. Robot Eye consists of 9 modules. It has a snake-like structure. It can make steering and rotational movements and can move easily in complex city pipelines thanks to this structure. We have lasers in camera modules. We project laser in the form of a circle. Examining the change of this laser, is there any deformation in the pipes? We detect them. Robot Eye, which is completely wireless, communicates through the pipe thanks to the antennas in the camera modules. This is a difficult robot project because it contains 247 electronic boards and 3 microcomputers. One of the most difficult aspects of this project is that the environment in which it will work is very challenging. The robot needs to operate while there is flow. You need to develop a robotic system that can move against the flow and operate under pressure up to 30 bar.
‘Over 20 Turkish engineers are working on the project’
Emphasizing that the project was developed by Turkish engineers, Yavaşoğlu said, “It is proud that it has been developed by local engineers. More than 20 Turkish engineers are working on this project. We are continuing to work on using our robot on a live line as soon as possible.”
TÜBİTAK Chief Specialist Researcher, Robotic Intelligent Systems Group Leader Dr. Yusuf Engin Tetik also noted that the data obtained from Robot Eye was handled after the operation and shared the information, “Data from 900 different sensors are kept in a recording mechanism within the robot. It is processed after the operation. Errors are found later.”
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