Robots to Crawl Under the City

Johan Louwers writes "Robots will crawl tubes in a short while to investigate power cables running in the tubes to make sure they are still undamaged or in need for a repair. The Robotic Cable Inspection System is developed by Alexander Mamishev, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington. Making use of infrared thermal analysis and acoustic partial discharge analysis, the robot will be checking mile after mile of cable while crawling his way in the tubes."

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[alexjohnc3]

If only it said Ted Stevens and not Alexander Mamishev...

Re:

[Shads]

For a moment there I thought we were talking the start of the matrix :P

Now we know

[snarkth]

How the Sentinels got their start.

  snarkth

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[TubeSteak]

32MB of Coralized video goodness:
http://www.ee.washington.edu.nyud.net:8090/researc h/seal/projects/seal_robot/media/robot_video_1.avi [nyud.net]

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[snarkth]

Well. Therefore I, for one, welcome our new sewer-crawling overlords. Obviously their evolution has been underway for a while already, even if this part of their PR efforts looks like it's slashdotted ;-)

  snarkth

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[yosofun]

robots'll be having lots and lots and lots of fun XD

Someone has to say it

[Dachannien]

I, for one, welcome our new robotic underlords.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[aqk]

In Soviet Russia, our robots make YOU crawl under city.

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[__aaclcg7560]

Uh, no. Between 0 and 1 you have statistics, damn statistics, and politicians.

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[suntac]

That was what the writer meant to say ;-)

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[rbarreira]

     X       <-------- joke

     O
     |
    ---
     |       <-------- you
     |
    / \
   /   \

Damn...

[Dunbal]

Now where are we humans going to hide when Skynet becomes active?

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[StringBlade]

Don't you mean Tubenet?

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[mgcady]

Can we say, Domi arigato, Mr. Roboto? (ok, my spelling on that is probably *way* off)

Identifiers?

[Grey_14]

I would hope they would make them easy to identify and track, Imagine stumbling upon some weird robotic beasty that washed out of a storm drain and thinking it's the beginning of the robot revolution or something, Maybe they could just write "NOT EVIL" in magic marker or something, that would make ME feel better.

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[prencher]

Just make the components in google colours.

Re:Identifiers?

[LiquidCoooled]

Add an "I'm feeling lucky" button to really top off its "none-evilness".

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[Orange Crush]

Just make the components in google colours.

Considering where the robots will be crawling, I think they're more likely to have a Zune [amazon.com] inspired color scheme.

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[snarkth]

One can identify them, one just needs the proper RFID reader.

  s

Re:Identifiers?

[Kadin2048]

Maybe they could just write "NOT EVIL" in magic marker or something, that would make ME feel better.

How about "Don't Panic" in nice, friendly letters?

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[jones_supa]

How about "Don't Panic" in nice, friendly letters?

With Comic Sans MS as font, naturally.

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[Conspiracy_Of_Doves]

Great. Thanks for the post. Now, when the robots do start taking over, they'll know just what to do so that we don't suspect anything.

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[baldass_newbie]

From the look of this thing you would need straight lines, plenty of clearance, and two rails running next to each transmission line.

Good point. In Philly as late as the 1960's there were portions of the water line that were running through hollowed out tree trunks. Seriously.
I can't see this being of any use in a town like Philly. Read this story about a recent underground explosion [kyw1060.com] and you'll know what I mean.

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[b0s0z0ku]

In Philly as late as the 1960's there were portions of the water line that were running through hollowed out tree trunks. Seriously.

Not really that shocking, nor confined to Philly. NYC had wooden piping as late as the early 90s. Possibly even today.

-b.

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[b0s0z0ku]

Perhaps it would be shocking to find that your comment did nothing to make me like you more or hate you less.

Who are "you" and why are you hiding behind an Anon. Coward profile? Oh wait, you're a troll. Go back under your bridge, boy. Some of us want to be able to eat without viewing your ugly mug.

-b.

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[neimon]

You don't wanna clean nothin' in Philly. That dirt, it's STRUCTURAL.

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[gaber1187]

You're right, the real world is a messy place--lots of underground transmission lines are just plopped down into a big tray and are not very accessible to just about any method that would inspect the quality of the insulation. However, with very little effort utilities can make lines more amenable to inspecting lines with this robot.

But being able to deal with pretty difficult situations is a problem for robotics, and we like tough robotics problems, so its definitely doable. I'm in the same research la

Re:Will this work in the real world?

[jcurran]

I've seen underground power cables in the Boston area, and at least in the ones I saw, there was no tray, just lots of serious support ironwork. Additionallly, there was no nice clean lit walkway on the side as in the video. The problem that I see is that the places that its hardest to visually inspect are just the circumstances that these robots would be handiest, and that's exactly the circumstances that they'll have the most problems navigating.

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[PPH]

I've seen underground power cables in the Boston area, and at least in the ones I saw, there was no tray, just lots of serious support ironwork. Additionallly, there was no nice clean lit walkway on the side as in the video. The problem that I see is that the places that its hardest to visually inspect are just the circumstances that these robots would be handiest, and that's exactly the circumstances that they'll have the most problems navigating.

True. And that (Boston) probably isn't the worst case. Our u

Horror

[SinGunner]

This sounds like a bad horror-movie plot. Next they'll start coming up from the ground in some old people's home and killing everyone, and then the police get called in to investigate, but they just can't tell what the hell happened. Then more isolated incidents start to occur which leads the main character and his expendable co-stars into the dark abandoned subway tunnels to search for this menace from the underneath!

The final scene involves a huge explosion or EMP burst that destroys all the robots but also leaves everyone in the sewer in complete darkness. Cut, print, that's a wrap. Where's my money?

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[plover]

Next they'll start coming up from the ground in some old people's home and killing everyone

Nah, they won't kill old people, they'll just eat their medicine for fuel. Besides, I've got my life insurance policy from Old Glory Insurance so I feel safe, even though the robots may strike at any time.

Old Glory Insurance. [google.com] For when the metal ones decide to come for you - and they will.

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[SinGunner]

I hear that when they grab you with those metal claws, you can't break free, because they're made of metal, and robots are strong.

Robots good at checking pipes

[Realistic_Dragon]

The SMART PIG [wikipedia.org] is used to check on gas pipes. It saves a fortune on using the old, dumb pigs that they used to have to force through the pipes to inspect/clean them prior to the invention of Magnetic Flux Leakage techniques.

There is a pretty good SMART PIG display at the Manchester Sci/Tech museum (free) with an actual 80's vintage inspection unit donated by British Gas.

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[dangitman]

Yeah, but can it fly?

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[hachete]

Yeah, but can it fly?

No, but it make insightful +5 comments every time

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[Nick Number]

So when do we get the SMART borscht and SMART cake?

at least someone's checking them

[macadamia_harold]

Making use of infrared thermal analysis and acoustic partial discharge analysis, the robot will be checking mile after mile of cable while crawling his way in the tubes.

Well, since they're checking the tubes, maybe they can find the internet that Ted Stevens' staff sent him last Friday. It's all tangled up in there.

Finally!

[sharkey]

We desperately NEED something to keep the tubes clear. Sometimes it takes a whole WEEK for an Internet to get to me!

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[bubbl07]

We already have robots in our internet tubes! Sometimes, though, it's not for the best [thedailywtf.com], damn googlebot!

The Cousins of the Sewer Robots

[MightyMait]

Here in Santa Cruz, we're currently using robots to inspect our sewers. My buddy made a TV show (on Community TV--like Public Access) of the raw footage from the sewer robot set to soothing music. Must-see TV!!

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[RedOregon]

Seems to me that robots have been crawling the Alaskan oil pipelines for decades, too...?

Deus Ex

[imunfair]

Reminds me of the repair spiders in Deus Ex. Now all we have to do is equip them with weapons and they can hunt sneaky terrists. Funny how all the classic conspiracy theories/times leading up to bad things in history are mirrored in our current societal situation. Makes you wonder if the signs always foreshadow the bad things, or if there are times where the crisis was averted and history just doesn't remember them.

Robots in Tubes?

[TooFarGone]

If these robots can go into tubes, maybe when the internets are clogged they can help us out?

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[cbiltcliffe]

Well, of course! This is Senator Ted Stevens' solution to the quake damage in East Asia!

The submitter must have forgotten to include that bit......

*sigh*

[joe_cot]

I'm not a paid member; can someone please tag this story "ReallyBadInternetJokeBait"?

Only the beginning

[SmlFreshwaterBuffalo]

Great, how long before they start using similar robots to check your prostate?

(Ha! You thought this was going to be another reference to The Matrix/Terminator, didn't you?)

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[CrackerJackz]

How about a Total Recall one?

"Don't worry; it's self guiding. Just shove real hard. When it crunches, you're there."

  (and yes I know the movie was dealing with the other end of the human anatomy)

Animals in the sewers

[SoundGuyNoise]

Yeah, those nanites are cute when they come home from the County Fair in a little static-free bag. Then they get bigger and you flush them down the toilet.

Next thing you know, sewers are crawling with Hunter-Killers.

You can do it at home too

[Chairboy]

Last year, my webpage describing how I did something similar (but spectacularly cheaper with the commensurate drop in ability) using some off the shelf electronics and an R/C toy was featured here on Slashdot, my first slashdotting!

http://hallert.net/misc/tankcam/tankcam.html [hallert.net]

There are other crawlspaces out there, get under your houses and make your own robots do your bidding!

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[bishiraver]

You should do it again, but use this infrared webcam hack so you don't have to have all that damn light! :D

http://www.hackaday.com/2005/03/14/make-an-infrare d-webcam/ [hackaday.com]

What'd be really neat...

[fussili]

is if they leeched power from the cables at open nodes in the system and just roamed on a set path at all times.

Autonomous little service droids, keeping everything working - now that's the future.

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[TooMuchToDo]

To build on your idea, instead of a set path, they should roam intelligently based on the history of the utility network. Areas that have required more maintenence in the past should be passed over/inspected more often then those areas which have required less maintenence.

Too bad they can't train rats..

[istartedi]

Too bad they can't train rats to do this. They're ubiquitous in cities, they run off readily available biomass fuel, and they automaticly replace themselves when they wear out. Of course, I'm being facetious. Really, it would be nice if the robots could be programmed to kill rats too.

Holy SHite!

[/dev/trash]

Sarah and Neo are gonna be pissed!

This...

[dr_strang]

...is how it begins, you know that right?

equal opportunity!

[swell]

.

"checking mile after mile of cable while crawling his way in the tubes."
Why does it have to be a male robot?

Don't anthropomorphize robots--they hate it when you do that.

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[Provocateur]

checking mile after mile of cable while crawling his way in the tubes.

You missed the more important part. Does he even *know* that he was volunteered for this task? Or he was simply not at that meeting?

Oddly enough, today's post was brought to you by the captchka 'drills'. Those sentinels!

Ah, the classics...

[Acheron]

It's that time again!

As many of you know, each year the Internet must be shut down for 24 hours in order to allow us to clean it. The cleaning process, which eliminates dead email, inactive ftp and www sites, and empty USENET groups, allows for a better working and faster Internet tubes.

This year the cleaning process will take place from 12:01 a.m. GMT on April 1 until 12:01 a.m. GMT on April 2 (the time least likely to interfere with ongoing work). During that 24-hour period, five powerful tube-cleaning ro

Wait a sec..

[Dersaidin]

All these posts about Skynet, Robot overlords... etc. Yes they're posting for mod funny, but really, this is just another use for our current technology. Theres nothing new in the way of AI here. I for one welcome the new model of robot slaves...

They are coming...

[TheCybernator]

...They are coming fast
and they are hungry

the tube-eating sewer robots!!

That was surprising...

[Sowelu]

I worked under Prof. Mamishev on a different robotics project a couple years back, but heard about this one in class. Took me by surprise to see this on Slashdot, but it always looked like an awesome project.

If I Could Write a Book About This...,

[berenixium]

"They came for the children late at night, while parents slept blissfully unaware. They were never heard from again..."

Interesting

[Barima]

Hmmmm.... interesting.