Design and Integration of a High Precision Robotic, Non-Destructive Inspection Platform

This work leverages recent advances in the Robot Operating System (ROS) to design aplatform capable of processing previously unknown geometries with minimal userinteraction. Industry needs inspection platforms which are adaptable to multiple partfamilies. An eddy current inspection tool was selected to prioritize design choices whichaccommodated micrometer-precision tool positioning when deployed on an 6-axisindustrial robot. These robots offer the physical reach and flexibility required by in situinspections at the refined control level necessary for accurate data collection. Surfacescanning and reconstruction was achieved using a low-cost, commercially availablestereoptic camera. Non-contact, material inspection techniques such as eddy current useelectromagnetic field propagation to measure variation in electrical conductivity andmagnetic permeability to detect defects. Geometry with sharp changes in topology causesmagnetic variations which give improper eddy current readings. To circumvent this issue,an operator is used to interactively select inspection surfaces. This manuscript will focuson the design process and a representative deployment using a Yaskawa Motoman GP7industrial robot. This study successfully implemented a high precision robotic inspectionplatform using highly configurable software controls while maintaining an easy-to-useuser interface.