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In-pipe flexible robot for water pipes inspection (TRACT)
Start date: Dec 1, 2013, End date: Nov 30, 2015 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Recent studies surprisingly estimate the losses in European Water Distribution Networks to an average of around 30 to 40%, peaking to more than 50% in some Eastern European countries. It is clear that the economic impact and scarcity of public water sources mandate the development of a systemic leakage control program; while this would seem the most intuitive and feasible approach, currently no technology is reliable enough to be used to pinpoint every source of leak. To solve this issue, the TRACT project will introduce to the market an advanced water pipe monitoring system, consisting in a transport mechanism containing sensors for leakage detection and pipe condition monitoring, which can navigate and inspect water pipe structures of various diameter without the necessary precondition of shutting the process down.This valuable output of the TRACT project will be made available to water utilities clients through the successful delivery of the following Scientific and Technological Objectives: 1)Sensor system along with sensor fusion algorithms which allow the inspection robot to detect and locate pipe damages, leakages, and scaling; 2)Software for mapping the pipeline network; 3)Pipe entry mechanism for a “hot tapping” drilling process, which will allow the inspection robot to enter water pipes without the need for shutting the pipes down;4) Transport mechanism which can carry the sensor system and navigate through water pipes in the range of 100 mm – 600 mm, covering the dimensional range of the majority of existing water supply pipes.
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