Autonomous Robot for Gas Pipeline Inspection and Leak Detection

Abstract

Gas pipeline inspection and monitoring are essential to preventing rupturing with its associated human, economic and environmental costs. Currently, the popular approaches utilized in monitoring gas pipelines are expensive and require sensors attached to the pipeline at different locations. In this work, we propose a microcontroller-based line follower robot for gas pipeline monitoring and leak detection. It uses the sensors, MQ-6 and TGS2611, to detect the presence of natural gases, methane (CH4), propane, carbon monoxide (CO), LPG gases and alcohol. Also, the system has an on-board camera and is configured to wirelessly transmit a real-time video stream as the robot navigates. If the measured gas concentration exceeds the threshold, the system is designed to set off an alarm and signal the operator through SMS, including the measured gas concentration and the GPS location information.