Smooth creeping actuator by tip growth movement aiming for search and rescue operation

This paper proposes a novel flexible fluid actuator with a long cylindrical structure, aimed at creeping smoothly even on rugged and narrow terrain. Since only the tip goes forward by drawing out the outer skin from its inside, the actuator creeps without moving against the outer environment, just like the plant\´s growing process. The actuator is composed of the plural flexible flat tubes, placed around the cylindrical slippery cloth in parallel, whose tips are bent to cut off the fluid passage. Moreover, it is designed to be capable of steering the direction actively by curving its tip, while the outer shape formed before remains constant. The developed prototype named "Grow-hose-I" creeps at the maximized speed of 500mm/s with generating the driving force of 40N in linear motion. Finally, its feasibility for search and rescue operation is discussed, aiming to make it carry small cameras and microphones as smoothly as possible at the disastrous site.