By Billy
Aldridge
During the
past few months I have told all of you about the hi-tech revolution coming soon
to a kitchen and/or bathroom near you. I
have regaled you with everything from the latest in singing shower heads and
computerized commodes, to refrigerators and washing machines that are wifi
equipped. So I guess it should come as
no surprise that technological wizardry is on the horizon that could well
change the way in which plumbers perform repairs.
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| English: Man using a ground penetrating radar. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Hi-tech
plumbing tools are nothing new. Plumbers,
including yours truly, have been using everything from flexible fiberoptic
viewing systems and electromagnetic line locators, to bionic ears and ground
penetrating
radar for a number of years. While most of these devices are useful in
locating hidden pipes and leaks, they still need a human being to work the
controls. The next generation of tech
tools will not only be able to go where no plumber has gone before, but there
is a high probability that they will not only be autonomously controlled, but
they will be able to perform the repair without any assistance from the
operator.
What I am
referring to are roboplumbers, or more precisely robots that can worm their way
down the drain in order to locate and repair plumbing. Any of you who watch the evening news has
seen Unmanned Aerial Vehicles such as the Air Force’s Predator Drone. Tasked with surveillance in far off places as
Afghanistan, UAV’s such as the Predator fly the unfriendly skies of the middle
east while their operators are located in places such as Las Vegas. What many people do not know is the fact that
the military has a number of other UAV’s that are autonomously piloted, meaning
that they are programmed to fulfill their mission without human input of any
kind.
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| Rethink Robotics — Brooks and Baxter (Photo credit: jurvetson) |
Another item
that most of the populace is unaware is the fact that there are hundreds of
drone manufacturers out there, some of whom are busy creating autonomous robots
for the masses that clean, assemble and perform specialized tasks. Also, these robots are not limited to
flying. Some roll, others walk and
several swim or slink. One such robot
manufactured by Rethink Robotics named Baxter, is designed to perform all kinds
of repetitive production tasks. Another
is an articulated robot named Pipe Snake.
“A team of U.S. Air Force Academy graduates has designed the
Pipe Snake, a telescoping robot that can climb vertical plumbing shafts and
even navigate curved pipes to locate victims of natural disasters. The Pipe
Snake can carry medical supplies or other payloads, giving victims in
inaccessible places a shot at immediate attention while first responders figure
out what to do next.”
Sooner or
later the same minds that designed Baxter and the Pipe Snake are bound to put
their heads together in order to come up with a device that can not only snake
its way down the drain but perform repetitive tasks once it arrives. Whether this means that plumbers will have
another tech tool to work in hard to reach places, or whether the robots will
try to muscle us out of the business is anybody’s guess. All I know is I dread the day I pick up the
phone only to hear the homeowner on the other end of the line tell me, “I’ve
got a drone stuck in my drain.”
Billy Aldridge is one
of the Doctors of Plumbology at Aldridge and Sons Plumbing in Jacksonville,
Florida. For more helpful plumbing tips
and how-to videos, go to
