TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Smarter Robots Aim to Repair Aging U.S. Water System

Salvatore Salamone | Date: 03-05-10 | Comments

Robots have been used for years to inspect hard-to-reach water pipes. But work is under way to develop a new generation of smarter robots to internally repair the nation's aging water mains.

UC Irvine researchers are leading an effort to develop robots to internally repair the nation�s aging water mains. The robots will pass through existing pipes and apply (from the inside) a carbon-fiber coating. This will allow old pipes to last longer and negates the need to dig up streets to replace pipes.

Illustration of a prototype robot designed to repair damaged water mains.
Source: UC Irvine

Joining UC Irvine on this project are Fibrwrap Construction, a pioneer in the trenchless application of advanced composites, and Fyfe Company, which develops fiber-reinforced polymers for civil infrastructure rehabilitation.

The work is being funded by the National Institute of Standards & Technology as part of its Technology Innovation Program. This program supports high-risk, high-reward research addressing critical national needs, such as infrastructure monitoring and repair. Through this program, the UC Irvine team was recently awarded $8.5 million over five years.

Driving the need for the new robots: U.S. water mains are aging, and many of them need repairs or replacement.

In its 2009 Report Card for America�s Infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers noted that old, leaky pipes and mains lose an estimated 7 billion gallons of clean, treated drinking water each day.

The main obstacles to replacing and repairing water mains are the cost and complexity.

Just how costly is it to upgrade and repair the infrastructure? In 2009, a nearly $23 million project was begun to repair water mains in Newark, N.J. The goal of the project was to clean and reline about 16 miles of highly corroded, cast-iron water mains to improve the quality of drinking water for the city.

In addition to the cost, current methods of repairing and replacing water mains are highly disruptive. A typical water main repair or replacement project requires that a temporary water feed system be set up throughout the affected areas.

Such temporary systems frequently make use of plastic pipes and hoses that connect each home to an alternative water line. The hoses running from the street must be connected to each house�s meter connection. Once the project is completed, the temporary solution must be removed and the homes must be reconnected to the new water main. In both stages, the company working on the project needs access to every home.

Enter the Smarter Robot

Simple robots have been used to inspect pipes for some time. The new work being carried out by UC Irvine researchers seeks to robotically apply a carbon-fiber coating to the insides of old pipes. The challenge is that water mains have unpredictable flaws, imperfect shapes and uneven surfaces. This represents a far bigger technical challenge than simply cruising down a pipe to conduct an inspection.

�The robot needs to be intelligent; it has to see and feel and constantly adjust to the pipe surface,� says Maria Feng, civil and environmental engineering professor at UC Irvine. �Smart robots like this are very different from those used in manufacturing.�

To find areas needing reinforcement, researchers are integrating an advanced sensor system into the robot to gauge contact pressure against the pipe wall and trigger the application process.

The UC Irvine team anticipates that the robot ultimately will adapt to various pipe sizes and conditions, and be able to lay carbon-fiber coating 11 times faster than human crews.