Abstract: An example inspection robot may include a drive module structured to engage a top tube of a vertically arranged layer of tubes, at least one telescoping pole, and a lowering mechanism operationally coupled to the at least one telescoping pole and structured to selectively extend or retract the at least one telescoping pole, thereby providing a selected vertical position of a sensor carriage assembly. The sensor carriage assembly may be coupled to the at least one telescoping pole, and structured to accept at least one of a plurality of sensors.

Abstract: Inspection robots for horizontal tube inspection are described. An example inspection robot may include a drive module structured to engage a top tube of a vertically arranged layer of tubes, an encoder, at least one telescoping pole, and a lowering mechanism operationally coupled to the at least one telescoping pole and structured to selectively extend or retract the at least one telescoping pole, thereby providing a selected vertical position of a swappable sensor carriage assembly. The swappable sensor carriage assembly may be coupled to the at least one telescoping pole, and structured to accept at least one of a plurality of sensors, including at least one of an ultrasonic sensor, a laser profiler, or a camera and a light.

Abstract: An inspection apparatus for inspecting horizontal tubes in an industrial environment includes a drive module including a pair of wheels to engage a top tube of a vertically arranged layer of tubes, a telescoping pole, a sensor carriage assembly coupled to the telescoping pole, a lowering mechanism operationally coupled to the telescoping pole to selectively extend or retract the telescoping pole providing a selected vertical position of the sensor carriage assembly, and an encoder including a passive wheel, a spring, and a sliding coupler. The spring biases the passive wheel toward the top tube to ensure contact between the passive wheel and a surface of the top tube.

Abstract: An inspection apparatus and methods for inspecting horizontal tubes in an industrial environment are disclosed. The apparatus can include a drive module including a pair of wheels to engage a top tube of a vertically arranged layer of tubes, a telescoping pole, a sensor carriage assembly coupled to the telescoping pole, and a lowering mechanism operationally coupled to the telescoping pole to selectively extend or retract the telescoping pole providing a selected vertical position of the sensor carriage assembly.