A Study of a Vibrating Bristled Vehicle for Small Pipes : Moving Characteristics of the Vehicle

Abstract

This paper proposes a new vehicle that runs in small pipes with an inner diameter of less than 100 mm in order to maintain and inspect them. Many bristles are attached at an angle to the surface of the vehicle. Eccentric weights at both ends of the vehicle are rotated by a motor inside the vehicle. Since this structure does not require wheels or reduction gears, it has good potential for miniaturization. First, the sliding velocity of each bristle and its friction are discussed. Then, running simulations and experiments are conducted using a vehicle with 16 bristles in order to clarify the relationship between the running velocity of the vehicle and the angular velocity of the eccentric weights. It is shown that the vehicle runs smoothly inside a small pipe and that the calculated running velocity agrees with the experimental results.