Design and Analysis of a Dredger Robot for Covered Irrigation Canals

Upgrading the current operational and maintenance measures within irrigation districts has become one of the priorities of the authorities' due to the unsatisfactory performance of the existing irrigation systems. In order to achieve this, effective maintenance managements in irrigation canals must be provided, since providing a reliable source of water is challenging, especially in arid and semi-arid regions with frequent water shortage periods. One of the necessary measures in maintenance management of the irrigation canals is to remove debris, sediments, and weeds from the surface of the canal to provide enough space for passing the flow and prevent any probable obstruction. For this purpose, a robotic system is considered to remove weeds and sediments, with less damage to the canals. In this robotic system, the main arm includes variable width, stands outside the water. The robot consists of a manipulator that stays in the water for dredging operation. The end-effector of the robot is attached to the walls and sweeps the weeds and sediments. Design, simulation, and control of the robot have been conducted using conventional software such as SOLIDWORKS, ADAMS, and MATLAB.