Financial Support for INRTU students’ innovative Project

En+ Group is a leading vertically integrated producer of low-carbon aluminum and renewable electricity, has allocated 11 million rubles to support an innovative student project " Robot Development for pipeline inspection». The new industrial robot will help to improve work safety and simplify the process of diagnostics of water supply paths at the Angara-Yenisei cascade Hydroelectric Power Plants. The company’s message notes that the industrial robot, invented by the INRTU students, can easily move along the surface of the conduit, including inclined walls and ceiling, thanks to a well-thought-out system of electromagnets. Such maneuverability, as well as the possibility of equipping a video camera with a backlight, will allow to get comprehensive information about the condition of the water supply paths.

The company's message notes that the industrial robot, invented by the INRTU students, can easily move along the surface of the conduit, including inclined walls and ceiling, thanks to a well-thought-out system of electromagnets. Such maneuverability, as well as the possibility of equipping a video camera with a backlight, will allow to get comprehensive information about the condition of the water supply paths.
The project team first developed a 3D model, and at the end of 2021 created the first prototype. At the moment, the robot has successfully passed tests at the Bratskaya HPP, following the test results, a decision was made on the further development and scaling of the project.
The project appeared within the framework of the En+ Group corporate accelerator "Laboratory of Energy 2020". The company invited the students to develop methods for diagnosing turbine pipelines and embedded fuel assembly pipelines laid in the body of a concrete dam and aggregate sections of the Ust-Ilimskaya HPP.
The team of the industrial robot project included fourth-year students of the Institute of Aircraft Construction, Mechanical Engineering and Transport of INRTU- Pavel Grigorov, Vladislav Griboyedov, Alexander Piven and a student of the Institute of Information Technology and Data Science -  Innokenty Markov. The scientific supervisor was Igor Maizel, associate professor of the Department of Technology and Equipment for Machine-Building Production.
Diagnostics is a necessary stage of monitoring the operation of equipment of all hydroelectric power plants, it is carried out several times a year and is usually associated with high time and labor costs. Currently, power engineers use a traditional solution: the flow of water into the conduit is blocked, then industrial climbers erect scaffolding inside and manually inspect the surface meter by meter. Unfortunately, this method carries certain risks associated with labor protection and the human factor, which does not let the young scientists  to get a 100% guaranteed result.
The creation of domestic robots for use in industrial enterprises is an important new trend in Industry 4.0. Experts consider the optimal solution to integrate robots into processes that meet the so–called 3D principles: dirty, dull, dangerous. The introduction of robots into the process of diagnostics of water supply routes fully meets these criteria and helps to solve the main tasks to improve production efficiency: cost reduction, speed increase, exclusion of a person from hazardous production processes.
Promoting the development of educational programs is one of the priorities of the social policy of the En+ Group Company, which was defined by Oleg Deripaska at the founding stage. Thanks to the entrepreneur, talented young people implement various ideas and initiatives, including in the field of energy and metallurgy.
Photo of the Student Media Center