Interaction Behaviors of a Vine Robot in a Pipe T-Junction

Abstract

Continuous advances in soft robotic technolo-gies have promoted the feasibility of exploration of complex environments and terrains. One prominent example is the class of tip-everting “vine” robots, which have enabled a new set of real-world applications. Vine robots navigate their environment through growth and have recently been used in practice for in-pipe inspection, maintenance, and exploration. While locomotion through these directed cylindrical systems is simplified by a vine robot's growth, there are challenges with navigation. In complex pipe networks with many junctions, one question is how a vine can navigate around its own body during exploration. For example, a vine may navigate a pipe network that forces the robot to traverse a section of a pipe it already traversed in the opposite direction. This work presents an experimental approach to investigating and characterizing the interaction of a vine with its own body inside of a pipe T-junction. The results of this work provide initial design recommendations for facilitating the successful navigation of a vine robot in a T-junction.