Inspection and Maintenance (I&M) robots represent a highly specialized taxonomy of cyber-physical systems designed to perform Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), structural health monitoring (SHM), and
Definitional Boundaries & Taxonomy
Inspection and Maintenance (I&M) robots represent a highly specialized taxonomy of cyber-physical systems designed to perform Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), structural health monitoring (SHM), and preventative interventions in hazardous, confined, or extreme environments. Unlike traditional industrial robotic arms that operate in highly structured workcells, I&M platforms are mobile field robots that must navigate unstructured and often degrading infrastructure. The taxonomy of I&M robots is generally categorized by their locomotion paradigm and deployment environment:
Crawlers and Climbing Robots: Utilizing magnetic, vacuum, or dry-adhesive mechanisms to traverse vertical or inverted surfaces (e.g., storage tanks, ship hulls).
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): Collision-tolerant drones designed for visual and thermographic inspection of confined spaces (e.g., boilers, pressure vessels) or high-altitude infrastructure (e.g., wind turbine blades).
In-Pipe Crawlers and PIGs (Pipeline Inspection Gauges): Tethered or autonomous units navigating complex pipeline networks to detect corrosion or blockages.
Subsea ROVs and AUVs: Remotely Operated Vehicles and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for offshore oil and gas infrastructure inspection.
Legged Quadrupeds: Systems like Boston Dynamics' Spot or ANYbotics' ANYmal, integrated with acoustic and thermal payloads for routine autonomous rounds in industrial plants.
Their primary objective is to eliminate the need for human Confined Space Entry (CSE) and scaffolding, fundamentally shifting industrial maintenance from reactive to predictive paradigms.