Intelligent Actuators Realizing Snake-like Small Robot for Pipe Inspection

Recently many accidents have happened due to insufficient inspections of pipes that are difficult to examine because they are often complex, underground, or in narrow spaces. In this research, the robot has been developed by applying a "sinusoidal wave drive" principle that allows robots to negotiate curved pipes and pipes of varying diameters by themselves. Previous papers reported the basic model robots to which this principle is applied. These robots show the principle\´s potential. In this paper a robot consisting of thirteen links is shown. Each link has an intelligent actuator that decreases the number of wirings, high performance to decentration processes, and high tolerance for electrical noise. We conducted experiments with this robot that show a wide range of applicable diameters from 36 to 180 [mm]. The robot can also negotiate the various shaped pipes and vertical pipes. These results show the potential of this system