Automatic robotic inspection of arbitrary free-form shapes is relevant for many quality control applications in different industries. We propose a method for planning the motion of an industrial robot to perform ultrasonic inspection of varying 3D sh...
The inspection of public infrastructure, such as viaducts and bridges, is crucial for their proper maintenance given the heavy use of many of them. Current inspection techniques are very costly and manual, requiring highly qualified personnel and inv...
The availability of inspection robots in the construction and operation phases of buildings has led to expanding the scope of applications and increasing technological challenges. Furthermore, the building information modeling (BIM)-based approach fo...
In accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, this systematic review analyzed 73 publications (1997–2025) to summarize advancements in robotic aircraft skin inspection, focusing on the integrated pipeline from data acquisition to defect analys...
This paper presents a robotic system using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for bridge-inspection tasks that require physical contact between the aerial platform and the bridge surfaces, such as beam-deflection analysis or measuring crack depth with a...
Elevated temperature, gamma radiation, and geometric constraints inside dry storage casks for spent nuclear fuel represent a harsh environment for nondestructive inspection of the cask and require that the inspection be conducted with a robotic syste...
Machine learning (ML)-powered vision for robotic inspection has accelerated with smart manufacturing, enabling automated defect detection and classification and real-time process optimization. This review provides insight into the current landscape a...
Harsh environments and confined spaces require that nondestructive inspections be conducted with robotic systems. Ultrasonic guided waves are well suited for robotic systems because they can provide efficient volumetric coverage when inspecting for v...
Water ingression is a critical issue in honeycomb composite structures, which could result in catastrophic structural failure. In the aviation industry, they are widely used to manufacture critical aircraft structural components including fuselage, w...
This paper presents an intelligent robotic system for in-pipe inspection that integrates a novel mechanical design, deep learning-based defect detection, and high-fidelity simulation for real-time validation. Unlike existing solutions, the proposed s...
Industrial surface inspection is fundamental to advanced manufacturing, yet reliable robotic image acquisition in complex geometries remains challenging due to severe occlusions and the inherent trade-off between resolution and coverage. Inspired by...
Post-earthquake structural inspections are critical for public safety and recovery, yet traditional manual assessments are slow, hazardous, and resource-intensive. This paper proposes a novel system that integrates a quadrupedal robot with a deep lea...
Remote robotic radiation inspection can reduce personnel exposure during nuclear-facility operation, radioactive-source management, decommissioning, and emergency response. However, repeated multi-waypoint missions remain difficult when pre-registere...
Arc-welding robots are widely used in the production of automotive bracket parts. The large amounts of fumes and toxic gases generated during arc welding can affect the inspection results, as well as causing health problems, and the product needs to...
The robotic welding manufacturing of metal parts is a very important process, especially in heavy industries such as shipbuilding, oil and gas, automotive, and aerospace. There is a great variety of different techniques for manufacturing by robotic w...
Existing publicly available datasets for insulator recognition primarily focus on overhead transmission lines and are commonly acquired using unmanned aerial vehicles. As a result, they often do not reflect the visual complexity of high-voltage subst...
Belt conveyors are commonly used for the transportation of bulk materials. The most characteristic design feature is the fact that thousands of idlers are supporting the moving belt. One of the critical elements of the idler is the rolling element be...
Frequent inspections are essential for drains to maintain proper function to ensure public health and safety. Robots have been developed to aid the drain inspection process. However, existing robots designed for drain inspection require improvements...
Conveying systems play an essential role in the continuous horizontal transportation of raw materials in mining sites. Regular inspections of conveyor system structures and their components, especially idlers, are essential for proper maintenance. Tr...
The estimation of robot pose and pipe diameter is an essential task for reliable in-line inspection (ILI) operations and the accurate assessment of pipeline attributes. This paper addresses the problem of robot pose and pipe diameter estimation for n...
Frequent inspections are essential for false ceilings to maintain the service infrastructures, such as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing, and the structure of false ceilings. Human-labor-based conventional inspection procedures for false ceilings...
Regular inspection and monitoring of buildings and infrastructure, that is collectively called the built environment in this paper, is critical. The built environment includes commercial and residential buildings, roads, bridges, tunnels, and pipelin...
In this paper, simulation and experimental tests are reported for a hybrid robot being used for indoor and outdoor inspections. Automatic or tele-operated surveys can be performed by mobile robots, which represent the most efficient solution in terms...
The study addresses the design and implementation of a modular, scalable platform for specialized inspection tasks, highlighting its suitability for future research activities. The work presents a fully validated methodology that encompasses both the...
The robotization of the non-destructive inspection of aircraft is essential for improving the accuracy and duration of performed inspections, being an integral part of inspection and data management systems within the currently developed NDT 4.0 conc...
Several infrastructures, such as bridges and tunnels, require periodic inspection and repair to prevent collapse. There is a strong demand for practical bridge inspection robots to reduce the cost and time associated with the inspection of bridges by...
Aerial robots with cameras on board can be used in surface inspection to observe areas that are difficult to reach by other means. In this type of problem, it is desirable for aerial robots to have a high degree of autonomy. A way to provide more aut...
(1) Background: Quality inspection robots are widely used in automated production lines. However, the design cycle is long, iteration costs are high, and algorithm development is challenging. It is difficult to perform effective validation during the...
The weld seams of large spherical tank equipment should be regularly inspected. Autonomous inspection robots can greatly enhance inspection efficiency and save costs. However, the accurate identification and tracking of weld seams by inspection robot...
Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants are expansive facilities that require substantial inspection and maintenance. A fully automated inspection robot increases the efficiency of maintenance work, reduces operating and maintenance costs, and improves...
In-pipe inspection robots have proven useful in examining the inside of pipes without affecting their structure, therefore, the interest in researching these robots has constantly increased over time. There are many different types of inspection robo...
The periodic inspection for oil pipelines is required due to the deterioration over time. A multitude of factors brings such a deterioration, from corrosion, leaks, to cracks, which may lead to blowbacks and cause the damages for operators and the en...
The advent of sophisticated robotics and AI technology makes sending humans into hazardous and distant environments to carry out inspections increasingly avoidable. Being able to send a robot, rather than a human, into a nuclear facility or deep spac...
Electric power systems are expanding toward higher voltage levels, larger renewable-energy bases, denser urban substations, and increasingly complex transmission corridors. These trends make inspection more frequent and more demanding, while conventi...
Factory safety inspections are crucial for maintaining a secure production environment. Currently, inspections are predominantly performed manually on a regular basis, leading to low efficiency and a high workload. Utilizing inspection robots can sig...
Ondol is a heating system unique to Korean homes that increases indoor temperatures by supplying hot water through pipes embedded in floor slabs. Known for its comfort and sustained heating advantages, ondol has garnered international interest in cou...
Automated inspection of small metallic components is increasingly required in industrial manufacturing, particularly when dimensional conformity and geometric characteristics affect assembly quality and functional performance. This paper presents a p...
Cable conduits are crucial for urban power transmission and distribution systems. However, current conduit robots are often large and susceptible to tilting issues, which hampers the effective and intelligent inspection of these conduits. Therefore,...
The false ceiling plenum is a common and essential part of building infrastructure. However, false ceiling infrastructure requires constant maintenance, which is cumbersome and dangerous for humans since they have to work at high heights and conduct...
With the growth of the national economy, there is increasing demand for electricity, which forces transmission line corridors to become structurally complicated and extend to complex environments (e.g., mountains, forests). It is a great challenge to...
To reduce the labor intensity of manual inspection and support centralized robot management in commercial caged broiler farming, this study designed and implemented a cloud platform for broiler inspection robots based on a layered IoT architecture. T...
Quality inspection plays a vital role in current manufacturing practice since the need for reliable and customized products is high on the agenda of most industries. Under this scope, solutions enhancing human–robot collaboration such as voice-...
With the development of intelligent substations, inspection robots are widely used to ensure the safe and stable operation of substations. Due to the prevalence of grass around the substation in the external environment, the inspection robot will be...
False-ceiling inspection is a critical factor in pest-control management within a built infrastructure. Conventionally, the false-ceiling inspection is done manually, which is time-consuming and unsafe. A lightweight robot is considered a good soluti...
Robots are essential for the rapid development of Industry 4.0. In order to truly achieve autonomous robot control in customizable production lines, robots need to be accurate enough and capable of recognizing the geometry and orientation of an arbit...
The operational effectiveness of a railroad track robot that is designed for railcar undercarriage inspection is provided. Beyond describing the robot’s design details and onboard imaging system, the paper analyzes the recorded video images and...
Power inspection robots are essential for ensuring safe and optimal operation of power systems. However, during the operation of the power inspection robot, constraints imposed by computational and storage resources slow down the detection speed of t...
Mechanical systems (as belt conveyors) used in the mining industry, especially in deep underground mines, must be supervised on a regular basis. Unfortunately, they require high power and are spatially distributed over a large area. Till now, some el...
Soft robots are particularly suitable for in-pipe inspection, where locomotion must be achieved within confined, curved, and geometrically constrained environments without damaging the pipe wall. In this context, structural compliance is not only a s...
This paper presents a biomimetic prototype of a mobile robot that can be used to inspect the subdrainage conditions of pipelines located along different highways in Mexico. Computer-aided design tools have been used to size each of the prototype comp...
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