Humanity has an ongoing fear that the Robot Apocalypse is fast approaching. Movies, books, and TV shows end up adding fuel to the fire by displaying this scenario as a bad thing but the company, ULC Robotics, is determined to show that it doesn’t necessarily have to be. In fact, they have found a way to use robotics to our advantage in the natural gas industry.

Performing pipeline rehabilitation is easier said than done when talking about repairing natural gas pipes found underground. This is where CISBOT comes in. CISBOT is a Cast Iron Joint Sealing Robot that has been roaming under highly populated cities, such as Boston, for up to four years now with no one above ground the wiser.

Due to the expertise of ULC Robotics, this robot performs natural gas pipeline repair by specifically fixing leaking joints and preventing future leaks in the process. It does all this by internally drilling and injecting each joint with sealant.

CISBOT accesses the necessary pipes by first entering large-diameter gas mains through relatively small excavation sites. The robot can then seal joints along about 1,500 feet of pipeline without requiring an extra excavation point. That ends up rounding up to three average city blocks.

Its future on the natural gas industry is unclear but CISBOT sure is an interesting modern solution to pipeline repair. However, playing devil’s advocate, one may conclude that the CISBOT marks the beginning of the dreaded Robot Apocalypse if it really is as successful as claimed by ULC Robotics.

Promised to be virtually invisible, the CISBOT could be crawling under your own city at this very moment without you even realizing it. Whether this fact alone haunts you or pleases you, at least you know that your gas lines are in good hands.