UB’s robot dog sniffs out possible defects in Erie Canal culvert

Like a live canine, Yubie, UB’s robot dog, is adept at exploring and doesn’t shy away from small spaces that can be dark, dirty and full of cobwebs.

This is good news for engineers responsible for maintaining the roughly 350 culverts that run underneath the Erie Canal to prevent flooding and maintain the canal’s structural integrity. Some of these culverts are more than 200 years old and must be regularly checked for developing cracks, leaks, rust and blockages.

A new pilot program between UB and the New York State Canal Corporation aims to make this process safer and more efficient by tapping into the capabilities of the 4-foot-long and 3-foot-tall robot dog that the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences acquired from Boston Dynamics in 2022 as a learning and research platform.

“Up until now, it’s been up to human inspectors to crawl inside the culverts and find the defects. With a robot such as Yubie, that may not be the case in the near future,” said Karthik Dantu, associate professor of computer science and engineering, during a demonstration on Oct. 15 in which Yubie ambled inside part of a 250-foot-long culvert in Gasport.

Yash Turkar and Yashom Dighe, both PhD students in computer science, developed the autonomy software that enables Yubie to walk through and inspect the culvert with minimal human intervention. With its 50-watt light, several cameras and a long antennae, Yubie was able to navigate and take photos of the culvert, providing detailed information on its condition.

It's a two-step process, Karthik explained. First, Yubie finds “areas of interest” and then gets closer to those areas to take high-resolution photos that can reveal any problems. Having this technology could reduce the workload of engineers charged with checking for cracks and other defects year after year.

Matt Lengel, director of fleet and marine equipment management with the canal corporation, said he and his team welcome the technological advances of a robot such as Yubie as the canal evolves into its third century of operation.

“It is challenging to maintain and inspect culverts and other civil infrastructure that are 100 to 250 years old,” Lengel said. “A robot isn’t intended to replace engineers but rather serve as a tool that acts as a force multiplier for structural inspection engineers.”

So far, the UB group has visited six culverts in Erie and Niagara counties with Yubie and plan to expand the effort.

There are challenges to overcome as they move forward, Karthik noted, such as stabilizing Yubie to better navigate uneven terrain. Currently, they have to carry the robot up hills and across more challenging landscapes. Dantu’s team is working on long-distance navigation that could allow Yubie to visit multiple culverts that are miles apart.

Also, Yubie has a tendency to lie down when it’s slippery, such as when water pools in the culverts. This is a quirk that Dantu and his students are working to overcome.

Overall, the visitors at the demonstration seemed fascinated with Yubie and all of its capabilities, which seem to be needed now more than ever.

“If a culvert like this were to fail, it would be like taking the plug out of a bathtub. The whole embankment could fail, and the surrounding areas would be flooded,” Lengel said. “We take culvert inspections very seriously.”