Development of in-pipe locomotion robot

The authors have developed the fundamental mechanism for an in-pipe locomotion robot which can move in a small radius (50 mm) pipeline. They describe the in-pipe locomotion robot that is extended for automatic control. Data on shapes of the pipe-lines, the status of the robot, and the locomotion distance must be obtained in order to achieve the automatic control of the robot. The robot has various sensors including tactile sensors, an encorder and a roll sensor. Using the information obtained from the sensors, the robot can be maneuvered not only along straight pipe-lines but also at elbows at T-joints automatically.<>