Posted on 03/10/2017 10:51:33 AM PST by Lorianne
The solution to many of America's infrastructure problems could lie in the hands of tech companies.
Venture-backed HiBot USA, which recently advanced from "stealth" production mode, hopes to use machine learning and artificial intelligence to solve an aging pipe problem.
More than 1 million miles of pipes will reach the end of their lifespan within the next 30 years, according to data obtained from the American Water Works Association, costing more than $1 trillion to replace. Those pipes must carry more than 40 billion gallons of water per day to households and businesses, yet there are an estimated 240,000 water main breaks per year nationwide, the group has found.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
The urban underground right of ways are so congested that much of the digging has to be done by hand!
• Cast-iron mains, which can be 100 or more years old, are involved in a disproportionate share of significant gas leaks. About 2.5% of gas mains — the 2- to 24-inch pipes that deliver gas to neighborhoods and downtowns — are made of cast iron. But, the cast-iron mains are involved in about 10% of the most severe leaks from distribution pipes over the past decade, and about 12% of the fatalities.
• While the vast majority of the nation’s 1,000-plus gas utilities operate very little or none of the most vulnerable cast-iron mains, the largest share is concentrated in heavily populated areas with a higher risk of catastrophic consequences. About 83% of cast-iron mains are in 10 states, mostly in the Northeast. More than half the iron pipe is operated by just 10 utilities. And one-third of it is buried in and around New York, Boston and Detroit.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/23/gas-pipes-cast-iron-deaths-explosions-investigation/15783697/
In 1999 James Bond was in a oil pipe being chased by a maintenance robot. The movie was The World is Not Enough with Pierce Brosnan . So they have been around for 20ish years.
Sean Connery was out walking his rat, lost his way and shorted an automated welding rig outside Vegas.
“In 1999 James Bond was in a oil pipe being chased by a maintenance robot. The movie was The World is Not Enough with Pierce Brosnan . So they have been around for 20ish years.”
Sean Connery was also pursued through a gas line during the Movie”Dimonds are forever.
Hardly High Tech and for sure not AI.
Up to about 25 years ago my neighborhood had lots of gas leaks from old cast iron pipes. The gas company came and dug up only the intersections (Ts and Ys) and put a plastic liner in the pipes and connected new Ts and Ys at the intersections.
It took them about about 2 months and we haven’t had a leak in the neighborhood since.
Up to about 25 years ago my neighborhood had lots of gas leaks from old cast iron pipes. The gas company came and dug up only the intersections (Ts and Ys) and put a plastic liner in the pipes and connected new Ts and Ys at the intersections.
It took them about about 2 months and we haven’t had a leak in the neighborhood since.
...
It’s like getting new pipes with a cast iron protector around them.
Disagree!
I have friends that are working out on the bleeding edge of smart pigs.
At the nexus of Hi Tech and old school.
They have sections of old mains shipped into the lab, examined every imaginable way! Mapped and marked.
Then welded into a loop with the pig launcher / catcher.
Checking equipment response and how the pig fits and flows.
Not sure about AI?
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