Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 

Robotic Cable Inspection System

The Robotic Cable Inspection System is a very specialized robot designed by engineers at the University of Washington.


(Robotic Cable Inspection System)

A successful cable inspection robot must overcome many obstacles: very narrow or tight spaces, restrictions on size and weight, wireless operation and adverse environmental conditions. The Robotic Cable Inspection System includes failure tracking, collision avoidance, and path planning. The robot is able to carry out its specific tasks autonomously once the operator has given an overview of the job.

The UW cable inspection robot is intended to be used with underground power cable systems. However, space enthusiasts know about another cable that will need to be rigorously tested - the cable for the space elevator. (The space elevator is a visionary concept dating from the turn of the 19th century; an ultra-strong carbon nanotube ribbon would stretch from the Earth into space.) Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, writing in his 1978 novel The Fountains of Paradise provides a means for cable inspection - the "spider:"

The flimsy spider - a prototype test vehicle that looked like a motorized bo'sun's chair - had already made a dozen ascents to twenty kilometers, with twice the load it would be carrying now. There had been the usual teething problems, but nothing serious; the last five runs had been completely trouble-free.
(Read more about Clarke's space elevator spider)

Unfortunately for the protagonist of Clarke's novel, the "sensors" that examined the space elevator cable were provided by the person riding in it! Visual inspection is probably not enough for a real space elevator cable, and is certainly not enough for University of Washington engineers. The Robotic Cable Inspection System provides non-destructive measurement methods that are designed to determine the fault type, extent of fault, and aging status of the cable. The cable robot uses temperature, acoustic and electric field sensors in checking cables.


(Acoustic sensor)

As far as the space elevator is concerned, work has already begun on a cable-climbing robot. The Liftport group has been testing their space elevator robotic lifter in the lab and in real world tests using a balloon-borne cable; other groups have participated in the Space Elevator Games. Effective inspection of the carbon nanotube space elevator cable is essential; see Space Elevator Downer for details on just how perfect the cable would need to be.

Read more at the UW's Sensor, Energy and Automation Lab; via Robot Gossip.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/7/2007)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")

Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...' - David C. Cooke, 1939.

Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
'...tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent, 1934.

Finger Sensors For Robot Hands
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!' - Ray Cummings, 1931.

A Vacuum With An Arm - Engineers Create Heinlein's Hired Girl Robot
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...' - Robert Heinlein, 1956.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

Wearable Energy Harvester
'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'

Drones Participate In Buddhist Rites
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'

Anna Indiana AI Singer-Songwriter
'She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents'

Video Manicuring ala Schismatrix
'The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time'

'Feel the AGI' OpenAI Leader Now OpenWorship
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'

NASA Tests Prototype Europa Lander
Why have legs if they don't walk around?

Tailsitter Drone Aircraft For SAR
'...it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair.'

Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'

Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'

Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'

San Francisco Autobus
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street...'

Should Your Car Decide If You Can Drive?
'Okay. Maybe the car was right...'

Lucid Dreams On Demand From Prophetic and Card79
'the peeper did not operate by virtue of its machinery alone, but by the reaction of the brain and the body of its user...'

Honda UNI-ONE Hands-Free Wheelchair Follows 100 Year-Old Design
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'

EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
'McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface.'

Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
'...tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.