Sewer inspection and/or maintenance system

Abstract

Provided is a sewer inspection and/or maintenance system, comprisinga base unit that can be moved in a sewer,a number of members, each of which is assigned at least one controllable actuator, wherein the members are movable relative to the base unit and relative to one another by means of the actuators assigned to them,an effector arranged at a free end of one of the members, anda control unit coupled on the one hand to the actuators and on the other to an input device,wherein the effector is movable by means of the input device and the control unit.Furthermore, a correspondingly designed method is provided.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A sewer inspection and/or maintenance system comprising
 a base unit that can be moved in a sewer,   a number of members, each of which is assigned at least one controllable actuator, wherein the members are movable relative to the base unit and relative to one another by means of the actuators assigned to them,   an effector arranged at a free end of one of the members, and   a control unit coupled on the one hand to the actuators and on the other to an input device,   wherein   the input device is adapted, based upon user inputs, to generate first control commands and to provide them to the control unit, wherein the first control commands comprise information about a translatory and/or rotary movement to be performed with the effector, and   the control unit is adapted, based upon the first control commands provided to it, to generate second control commands, with which the actuators can be controlled, wherein the actuators can be controlled with the second control commands such that the members are moved in such a way that the effector is moved according to the translatory and/or rotary movement of the first control commands.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to the preceding- claim 1 , wherein the control unit is coupled to the base unit and is further adapted, based upon the first control commands provided to it, to generate third control commands, with which the base unit can be controlled, wherein the third control commands are used to bring about a movement of the base unit in the sewer, wherein the combination of the movement of the members and the movement of the base unit brings about a movement of the effector according to the translatory and/or rotary movement of the first control commands. 
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the base unit comprises a crawler, and/or wherein the effector comprises a tool or a sensor device, in particular a camera device. 
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the input device is a joystick or a touch-sensitive input device. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one member of the number of members is coupled to the base unit, wherein this member is preferably movable relative to the base unit. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the number of members are coupled to one another in pairs, and wherein two members coupled to one another are movable relative to one another. 
     
     
         7 . A method for controlling a sewer inspection and/or maintenance system, wherein the sewer inspection and/or maintenance system comprises:
 a base unit that can be moved in a sewer,   a number of members, each of which is assigned at least one controllable actuator, wherein the members are movable relative to the base unit and relative to one another by means of the actuators assigned to them,   an effector arranged at a free end of one of the members, and   a control unit coupled on the one hand to the actuators and on the other to an input device,   wherein   user inputs are received at the input device, wherein the user inputs are intended to control the effector,   based upon the user inputs, first control commands are generated and provided to the control unit, wherein the first control commands comprise information about a translatory and/or rotary movement to be performed with the effector, and,   based upon the first control commands provided to it, the control unit generates second control commands, with which the control unit controls the actuators, whereby the members are moved in such a way that the effector is moved according to the translatory and/or rotary movement of the first control commands.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the control unit is coupled to the base unit, wherein, based upon the first control commands provided to it, the control unit generates third control commands, wherein the third control commands are used to bring about a movement of the base unit in the sewer, wherein, based upon the combination of the movement of the members and the movement of the base unit, the effector is moved according to the translatory and/or rotary movement of the first control commands. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein, for or when generating the second control commands and/or when generating the third control commands, the control unit determines
 which members must be moved how by means of the actuators assigned to them, so that the movement of the members, and/or   how the base unit must be moved so that the movement of the base unit or the combination of the movement of the members and the movement of the base unit,   brings about a movement of the effector according to the translatory and/or rotary movement of the first control commands.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the method comprises a teaching step, wherein the members are each moved in the teaching step from an initial position to an end position by means of the actuators assigned to them, wherein information about the respective initial position and end position is stored in a memory device of the control unit, and wherein the second control commands are generated taking into account the initial position and end position of the respective members. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein a predetermined position of the effector relative to the base unit is achieved by a combined movement of the members.