Multifunctional robot to maintain boiler water-cooling tubes

A robot has been developed to maintain boiler water-cooling tubes. This robot has a double tracked moving mechanism, an ash cleaning device, a slag purging device, a tubesʹ thickness measurement device, a marking device, and a control system. This robot can climb up and down the tube wall. A method for the robot to complete many tasks for boiler maintenance in one process cycle is presented. The mechanism of the robot is described. Especially, a kind of special magnetic block structure is designed to obtain strong adhering force using permanent magnets. Experiments in laboratory and real thermal power station have verified that the robot cannot only climb on the surface of the tube wall smoothly, but also take heavy payloads for boiler maintenance operation.