Design and Motion Analysis of an In-pipe Robot with Adaptability to Pipe Diameters

Abstract

For the purpose of pipe inspection, an adaptive mobile mechanism is proposed and a robot based on this mechanism is designed and developed. Due to the unique transmission mechanism the robot has the adaptability to the change of pipe diameters, while number of the driving actuator does not increase. When the robot encounters a step, the adaptive mobile mechanism of the robot will change its working mode to surmount the obstacle. Compared to classical screw-driven robots, this robot does not employ the link-type configuration, but only uses one actuator to solve the low capability of surmounting obstacle. The observed rotation problem of the supporting parts is solved by the kinematical analysis of the robot. Basic experiments are performed to testify the adaptability and efficiency of the robot.