For smart and small industrial robots, like the robots designed for ducts at JettyRobot, it’s critical to have compact and modular networking hardware to reduce the robot size to fit in different pipes. Find out how BotBlox helped them achieve this:
JettyRobot is a track-driven robot. It is designed to inspect, clean and repair ducts & pipes, especially in cases when dismantling the system is strenuous or impossible. Having accurate information on the positioning of the JettyRobot allows users to perform detailed inspection tasks. JettyRobot can deliver any kind of work needed to be done inside ducts or pipes.
It is mainly used in industrial exhaust, oil and gas, and energy infrastructure.
As the robot needs to be mobile and fit into small pipes, the internal space is very limited, thus the usage of standard industrial switches is problematic. The robot needs to have gigabit ethernet for cameras and other devices, and it also needs to be connected via a 100-meter ethernet cable to a control station. Achieving gigabit ethernet in such a small volume is not an easy feat, which led JettyRobot to explore BotBlox’s tiny ethernet solutions.
JettyRobot has been using GigaBlox Nano in the newer versions with their custom daughterboard, which has one ethernet port with a transformer to allow connection over long distances and the remaining three use the standard Picoblade cables for internal connection with devices inside the robot.
The main benefit of GigaBlox Nano for them was its small size, allowing them to achieve gigabit speed in an inch square. Also, GigaBlox Nano’s modular architecture meant that they could design a custom board to only add transformers on the connection that needed it, and not include them in internal connections. This allowed them to achieve exactly the functionality they needed without adding too much space.
At BotBlox, we are really excited about the future of smart and small industrial robots, and we are building a platform of compact networking hardware to make this possible. We are thrilled to be able to support JettyRobot to bring their solution to a wide range of industries.