December 4, 2007
The Department's National Energy Technology Laboratory announces the development of a new robotic pipeline inspection tool that could revolutionize the pipeline inspection process. The wireless, self-propelled Explorer II proved its worth when it was tested in a live 8-inch distribution main pressurized at 100 pound per square inch. The robot was launched and retrieved multiple times as it inspected-with cameras and sensors-a section of the Northwest Fuels gas line in Brookfield, Pennsylvania, about 80 miles north of Pittsburgh.