Researchers are developing tiny robots – called Pipebots - capable of walking and swimming through buried pipes to locate and diagnose faults.
The Pipebots are the brainchild of a team from the universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Sheffield.
Utility companies, industry bodies and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council are also backing the project.
The Pipebots, which are just 20mm wide, feature on-board sensors and cameras. They can locate, diagnose and scan potential faults. They then relay the data wirelessly to a human engineer on the surface. This allows utility companies to deploy a repair team only when and exactly where it’s needed.
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