A study on a midget mobile robot in a thin tube using piezovibration.

Abstract

Thin paper proposes a midget mobile robot in a thin tube using piezovibration. The principle of the robot movement is the use of a frictional difference against the wall between forward and backward fin movement through the piezovibration. Experiments have been carried out suing a trial model to comfirm its mobile characteristics. Experimental results show that a running velocity and a tractive force greatly depend upon an exciting frequency of piezovibration. These characteristics are analyzed by introducing equivalent coefficients of dynamical friction on the viewpoint of an approximate static model. This theoretical model clarifies these phenomna affected by the excitation frequency. Experimental and theoretical results show that the proposed mechanism excellently expresses robot motion in a thin tube.