Development of a new kind of microrobot in pipe

In the medical field and in industry application, a new type of microrobot in a pipe that can move smoothly in water or aqueous medium has urgently been demanded. It is our purpose to develop a fin type of microrobot in pipe that has the characteristics of flexibility, driven by wireless, good response and safety. In this paper, we propose a new prototype model of a microrobot utilizing an electromagnetic actuator as the servo actuator to realize moving motion. The moving fin driven by a permanent magnet can be controlled by the frequency adjustment of the electromagnetic field. On a prototype microrobot a running experiment was conducted and the operating characteristic was evaluated. It turns out that the developed microrobot can correspond to the dirt adhering to the inner wall, or long distance movement by the experiment result, and speed control can be easily performed by frequency adjustment. The experimental results indicate that speed control can be easily performed by frequency adjustment of the electromagnetic field.