Energy and environment
As the largest centre solely dedicated to control and systems engineering in Europe, we are uniquely placed to undertake research seeking to improve the efficiency, autonomy and security of energy generation and distribution.
By undertaking this research we can better understand and manage the risks associated with climate change, protect human health and natural environment and reduce our carbon footprint.
We aim to do this through the development of key enabling control technologies for smart grids, energy saving solutions, better models of the terrestrial climate, chemical and radiation pollution, and through the development of advanced technological solutions to monitor environment and identify precursors for natural disasters.
Case study
Robot navigation: maintaining our water supply using spierbots
The survey and maintenance of water pipes is crucial to ensuring a safe water supply and reducing wastage of a precious resource. However, the inspection, maintenance and repair of water distribution systems is a costly and complex operation, with pipes buried deep underground.
The use of robotics is revolutionising this maintenance process, and our ground-breaking research is at the heart of this. A key issue for the use of robots within water pipes is navigation, with a lack of landmarks to support a normal navigation process. The SPIERBOT (Small Pipe Inspection-Exploration RoBOT) is a novel robotic device we are developing to allow the simultaneous inspection, assessment and mapping of water distribution pipes.
The robot will navigate using ultrasonic scanning of the voids in the ground outside the pipe to create a map of the pipe network and locate its position within the network. At the same time the SPIERBOT will use its sensor array to assess the condition of the pipes.
This research will support more effective monitoring of water pipe damage and allow water companies to more effectively target their maintenance efforts and reduce their costs.