Aiming at problems of high labor intensity and poor reliability of existing fault detection methods of belt conveyor, a design scheme of fault inspection robot system for belt conveyor was proposed. Firstly, common fault types and causes of belt conveyor about conveying belt and roller were analyzed including transverse fracture, longitudinal tearing, slipping, running deviation and coal piling of conveying belt and abrasion and rotation deadlock of roller. Then different sensors were selected including laser radar, monocular camera, smoke sensor, sound sensor and temperature sensor according to fault types, and corresponding fault detection algorithms were proposed. Finally, system software processes of upper and low computers were given.