Controllable vehicle for inspecting limited access areas.

摘要

An electromagnetic crawler vehicle (10) and its control system are disclosed for inspecting or servicing limited access remote areas such as with a steam generator. The vehicle is introduced into the steam generator enclosure through an inspection opening and has a drive frame comprised of first and second opposing legs, and third and fourth opposing legs pivotable connected to the first and second legs to form a parallelogram. A drive mechanism is interconnected between the first and second legs of the parallelogram drive frame for spreading open or closing the drive frame. First and second attachment devices, illustratively in the form of magnets, are also attached to the first and second legs. The vehicle control system taking the form of a programmable computer in an illustrative embodiment of this invention responds to the opening and closing of the drive frame for alternatively actuating and deactuating the first and second magnets, whereby the vehicle is controllably made to crawl on a surface without falling.