Robot NDT - UT Application (UT and Visual)

What Is Robotic NDT?

Robotic NDT deploys remotely operated crawler platforms — magnetically attached to ferromagnetic surfaces or wheeled/tracked for internal and floor-level deployment — carrying ultrasonic and visual inspection payloads to locations where conventional personnel inspection is not safely achievable, not operationally permissible, or not justified by the risk and cost of establishing conventional access.

Magnetically attached crawler systems adhere to vertical, overhead, and compound-angle ferromagnetic surfaces — vessel shells, storage tank walls, structural steelwork, and offshore structure members — traversing the surface under remote operator control while continuously acquiring encoded UT data and high-definition visual imagery. They require no scaffolding, no rope access, and no personnel at height.

Wheeled and tracked platforms are configured for confined space and floor-level deployment — vessel internals, column sumps, pit floors, and pipe bores of sufficient diameter — carrying the same UT and visual payloads with live telemetry and remote operation. All data is acquired with positional encoding, providing located thickness readings, scan imagery, and visual records that meet engineering disposition and regulatory record requirements without requiring personnel to enter the space.

Where We Apply Robotic NDT

•        Storage tank shell UT scanning — external, without entry or scaffolding, during operational periods

•        Pressure vessel external UT thickness monitoring during continued operation

•        Elevated structural steelwork thickness monitoring — offshore platforms, industrial structures

•        Nuclear plant component inspection in radiation-restricted or personnel-access-limited zones

•        Subsea structure visual and UT inspection — ROV integration for subsea deployment

•        Confined space internal inspection — visual and UT without personnel entry

•        Assets with chemical, atmospheric, or radiological access restriction

Applicable Codes and Standards

•        API 510 — Pressure Vessel Inspection Code — alternative inspection methods including robotic deployment

•        API 653 — Tank Inspection — shell and floor UT requirements — robotic as an alternative access method

•        API 570 — Piping Inspection Code — UT thickness measurement requirements

•        ASME Section V — Article 4 (Ultrasonic Examination) — requirements applicable to robotically delivered UT

•        ASME Section XI — Nuclear component in-service inspection — remotely operated inspection system qualification

•        MOM WSH Act (Singapore) — Confined Space Regulations — alternative to entry where robotic inspection provides equivalent coverage

•        Client and operator-specific robotic inspection qualification and approval requirements