PLC-Based Assessment Robot for Hazardous Applications

The paper presents the development of an inspection and patrolling robot for the oil and gas industry. The purpose is to replace the human workers who should perform the inspection of hazardous areas (contaminated or toxic), and so to reduce as much as possible the risks to which these people are endangered. The robot is remotely controlled through a human machine interface (HMI) which is connected to a programmable logic controller (PLC). Two significant designs steps are emphasized. First is the PLCs and HMI programs. The second is the connectivity between the HMI and PLC along with the testing by simulation because it is important to see in advance how the entire process could work.