Development of the attachment for the cable of peristaltic crawling robot to reduce friction in elbow pipe

Abstract

It is difficult to research small diameter pipes using conventional devices. In order to solve this challenge, this paper focuses on the locomotion of an earthworm that is capable of moving stably in a narrow space. A peristaltic crawling robot was developed which was capable of traveling 100 m through a 100A specification pipe using a peristaltic movement. However, especially in long distance inspection, and in elbow pipe, friction force between cable and pipes are too larger to ignore. Therefore, the friction force makes the robot impossible to inspect for long distance. And the friction force injure the cable and air tube equipped in the robot. In this paper, we developed an attachment to reduce the friction force. Using this device, we conducted experiment to measure friction in elbow pipe, and confirmed its effectiveness.