A magnetic elevated wheel assembly of a vehicle may include at least one wheel mounted on an axle, at least one magnet mounted on at least one of the axle or a vehicle body, and a shell connected to the at least one wheel. The shell may extend from the at least one wheel in an axial direction and may be positioned radially outward of at least a portion the at least one magnet. The at least one magnet may be configured and oriented to generate a magnetic force acting on the shell to elevate at least a portion of a weight of the vehicle acting on the axle to balance a rolling resistance acting on the at least one wheel.

Systems, apparatus and methods for providing an interactive inspection map are disclosed. An example apparatus for providing an interactive inspection map of an inspection surface may include an inspection visualization circuit to provide an inspection map to a user device in response to inspection data provided by a plurality of sensors operationally coupled to an inspection robot traversing the inspection surface, wherein the inspection map corresponds to at least a portion of the inspection surface. The apparatus may further include a user interaction circuit to interpret a user focus value from the user device, and an action request circuit to determine an action in response to the user focus value.

The inspection visualization circuit may further update the inspection map in response to the determined action.

A system includes an inspection robot having a number of payloads, a number of arms mounted to the payloads, and a number of sleds mounted to the arms, where the sleds comprise an upper portion coupled to a replaceable lower portion, the replaceable lower portion having a bottom surface shaped to accommodate an inspection surface; and an inspection sensor coupled to the upper portion of the one of the plurality of sleds such that the sensor is operationally couplable to the inspection surface.

A system includes an inspection robot having a number of payloads, a number of arms mounted to the payloads, and a number of sleds mounted to the arms. The system includes a number of sensors, each mounted to a corresponding sled, such that the sensor is operationally coupleable to an inspection surface in contact with a bottom surface of the corresponding sled. A couplant chamber is provided within at least two of the sleds, the couplant chamber between a transducer of a sensor and the inspection surface. The system includes a biasing member for each of the arms, where the biasing member provides a down force on the corresponding sled.

A robotic vehicle for traversing surfaces comprises a chassis having a plurality of wheels mounted thereto. Two magnetic drive wheels are spaced apart in a lateral direction and rotate about a rotational axis while a stabilizing wheel is provided in front of or behind the two drive wheels. The drive wheels are configured to be driven independently, thereby driving and steering the vehicle along the surface. The vehicle also includes a sensor probe assembly that is supported by the chassis and configured to take measurements of the surface being traversed. In accordance with a salient aspect, the vehicle includes a probe normalization mechanism that is configured to determine the surface curvature and adjust the orientation of the probe transducer as a function of the curvature of the surface, thereby maintaining the probe at the preferred inspection angle irrespective of changes in the surface curvature with vehicle movement.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for landing and perching on a curved ferromagnetic surface is provided. The UAV includes a plurality of articulated legs. Each articulated leg includes: a magnet configured to magnetically attach to the curved ferromagnetic surface; and a magnetic foot for housing the magnet and configured to magnetically articulate towards and attach to the curved ferromagnetic surface using the magnet in a perpendicular orientation with respect to the curved ferromagnetic surface, in response to the UAV approaching the curved ferromagnetic surface, in order to land the UAV on the curved ferromagnetic surface and for the UAV to perch on the curved ferromagnetic surface after the landing. The magnetic foot is configured to remain magnetically attached to the curved ferromagnetic surface while the UAV is perched on the curved ferromagnetic surface.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a body constructed to enable the UAV to fly and three or more legs connected to the body and configured to land and perch the UAV on a curved ferromagnetic surface. Each leg includes a first portion connected to the body, a second portion including a magnet and configured to magnetically attach and maintain the magnetic attachment of the leg to the ferromagnetic surface during the landing and perching, and a passive articulation joint connecting the first and second portions and configured to passively articulate the second portion with respect to the first portion in response to the second portion approaching the ferromagnetic surface. The UAV further includes a releasable crawler including magnetic wheels which detach the crawler from the body during the perching and maneuver the crawler on the ferromagnetic surface while magnetically attaching the crawler to the ferromagnetic surface after detachment.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) autonomously perching on a curved surface from a starting position is provided. The UAV includes: a 3D depth camera configured to capture and output 3D point clouds of scenes from the UAV including the curved surface; a 2D LIDAR system configured to capture and output 2D slices of the scenes; and a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to: control the depth camera and the LIDAR system to capture the 3D point clouds and the 2D slices, respectively, of the scenes; input the captured 3D point clouds from the depth camera and the captured 2D slices from the LIDAR system; autonomously detect and localize the curved surface using the captured 3D point clouds and 2D slices; and autonomously direct the UAV from the starting position to a landing position on the curved surface based on the autonomous detection and localization of the curved surface.

A method of inspection or maintenance of a curved ferromagnetic surface using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) having a releasable crawler is provided. The method includes: flying the UAV from an initial position to a pre-perching position in a vicinity of the ferromagnetic surface; autonomously perching the UAV on the ferromagnetic surface; maintaining magnetic attachment of the perched UAV to the ferromagnetic surface; releasing the crawler from the magnetically attached UAV onto the ferromagnetic surface; moving the crawler over the curved ferromagnetic surface while maintaining magnetic attachment of the released crawler to the ferromagnetic surface; inspecting or maintaining the ferromagnetic surface using the magnetically attached crawler; and re-docking the released crawler with the perched UAV.

A system includes an inspection robot for performing an inspection on an inspection surface with an inspection robot, the apparatus comprising a position definition circuit structured to determine an inspection robot position on the inspection surface; a data positioning circuit structured to interpret inspection data, and to correlate the inspection data to the inspection robot position on the inspection surface; and wherein the data positioning circuit is further structured to determine position informed inspection data in response to the correlating of the inspection data with the inspection robot position, wherein the position informed inspection data comprises absolute position data.