RF communication & localization in metallic waveguides for applications in aerospace robotic inspection

Foreign object debris (FOd) introduced during manufacturing in aerospace pipe networks poses serious safety risks, motivating the need for reliable autonomous inspection methods. Conventional visual and borescope inspections provide limited coverage and lack the ability to determine the location of discovered debris, while less common tethered robotic systems are restricted by bulky cables. This work presents a wireless framework for robotic in-pipe inspection that leverages the waveguide properties of metallic tubing to enable both single-mode communication and multimode position determination (Localization). Analytical modeling identified an 8.5 GHz operating frequency yielding a 2.78 cm localization resolution, which was experimentally verified in aluminum pipe networks containing straight and bent sections. Meanwhile, a compact 5.8 GHz transceiver was implemented to achieve robust wireless communication over representative inspection distances. These results provide the first analytical and experimental validation of integrated wireless communication and localization in aerospace-style pipe networks. Ultimately, the proposed framework provides a foundation for untethered autonomous inspection robots capable of transmitting real time sensor and vision data for FOd detection while simultaneously localizing detected debris.