A novel crawling in-pipe robot design

Abstract

A novel crawling in-pipe robot was designed to improve the adaptive ability with self-locking principle applied. In the moving, the robot was adaptable to horizontal, vertical and bending pipes with different diameters and sections without exerting additional pressure to the shell. The robot used a telescopic umbrella stand as a basic structure. The force of telescopic mechanism, self-locking principle of supporting mechani sm and shell were deduced from design requirements. The design of supporting and coupling mechanism was completed. The relationship between screw rod thrust and parallelogram driving force was established. A prototype was made and tested according to the suggested design methods. The results show that the robot with powerful traction, good self-locking performance and smooth passage through curve can move forward in the pipe with 90∼150 mm inner diameter.