Smart water network management with in-pipe leak detection robots

In this thesis, I created methods and designs to implement smarter, more autonomous water distribution networks (WDNs) and also improved the robots which will travel within the WDN's pipes to better differentiate pipe leaks from bumps in the pipes. Starting from the unit of the in-pipe leak detection robot, I investigated ways to make its soft leak sensors able to differentiate between pulling (due to leaks) and bending (due to bumps), and showed how a new design of adding fabric to the soft sensor allows the sensors to differentiate bending from pulling. Zooming out to the larger picture I looked at feasible ways these robots could be used throughout a cities' WDN, and created cost analyzes to compare futuristic methods of WDN management with current methods of district metered areas (DMAs). However, going from our current state of minimally instrumented pipes, to pipes with many valves to direct in-pipe inspection robots is a big leap, and thus I also created a method to help evaluate the cost trade-off of valve placement and the optimal spots for adding valves in the case where it was ideal to place valves on only some of the intersections of the WDN..

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Mittmann, Elizabeth(Elizabeth R.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kamal Youcef-Toumi.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122119

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122119