A maze of pipes, conduits for water, sewage, and gas can be found beneath the streets. Regular monitoring of these pipes for leakage or maintenance usually necessitates their excavation.
The cost and disruption brought about by work on underground pipes could be alleviated by Joey, a robot that can manoeuvre around small pipes and relay images to human operators.
A robot that can find its way through narrow pipe networks and relay images of damage or obstructions to human operators, has been developed by University of Leeds researchers.