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 Cover Story
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  Detecting pipeline flawsThe infectious energy that is common to students in the heat of learning radiates from the third floor of Durham Hall, where a team of researchers tackles a project that is unlike any other. It involves a pig, a pipe, and a chance to apply practical knowledge to a real-world problem. The group is part of an ongoing, interdisciplinary research project that aims to improve technologies used to detect and characterize flaws in natural gas transmission pipelines. Undergraduate and graduate students from electrical, computer, and mechanical engineering comprise the group, which represents a new model for integrating research into the educational environment. ECpE Professor Satish Udpa oversees the project, which has recently been extended through 2001. The problem at hand for this 12-person team is the design and construction of a 70-foot pipe and the nondestructive inspection tool it carries inside. The tool (called a “pig”) travels backwards and forwards through the pipe at speeds of up to 15 mph, gathering magnetic data from sensors that scan the pipe’s internal surface. Construction of this rig through three labs and two walls in Durham allows the group to test their ideas. The students came up with several new concepts and designs, including an uncommon drive system and a guiding mechanism that uses roller-blade wheels. Unlike the standard pig that looks for cracks that go around the pipe, their pig scans for cracks that go axially as well as along the pipe. Their control system, which is also unique, enables the pig to move at a fixed speed that can be controlled with great accuracy. There’s even a special safety system to make sure the pig stays inside the pipe. They’ve also designed an innovative method for tightening the cable that supplies power to the pig. The students are also building the data acquisition system and constructing the pig prototype. The group meets in a weekly seminar to critique ideas and designs and discuss strategies for meeting goals and deadlines, Udpa said. All students are required to submit reports summarizing accomplishments. Although the project provides valuable research experience, Udpa feels that it imparts other, equally valuable lessons. “It’s no longer possible for one person to build any large system on his or her own. It takes a team,” he said. “This project teaches students to establish goals together and meet them collectively. Research makes learning more fun, no doubt about it—the excitement, the collision of ideas—but a project like this is also about the importance of group dynamics and working through everyday challenges, like ordering materials and making sure that they arrive on time.” |
