A snake-like robot for real-world inspection applications (the design and control of a practical active cord mechanism)

Abstract

In order to inspect narrow and unstructured environments such as disaster sites, snake-like robots should have rugged construction, but at the same time be sufficiently sensitive to detect contact with their environments. In addition, control which allows the robot to adapt to its environment is also essential. Thus, we studied both design and control of snake-like robots for real-world inspection application, and through this developed our new prototype named ‘ACM-R4.1’. The ACM-R4.1 integrated a torque sensing function, a camera system, dust- and water-proofing, a mechanical torque limiter, and terrain adaptive control into its compact body. Particularly, the torque sensing system and the terrain adaptive control based on that allows us to operate the robot in challenging environment without observing the robot directly. We also showed the feasibility of our concept through the testing of the ACM-R4.1. In this paper, we describe the concept design of a snake-like robot for real-world inspection application and detailed design and experiments of the ACM-R4.1.