Development of a Snake Robot with Full Body Sensing

Abstract

We are developing snake robots that inspect inside of pipes or ducts. In previous studies, snake robots that can measure the pressure on the side of the robot using ON-OFF switch or pressure sensor have been developed. However, when using a snake robot that performs three-dimensional movement, we need a snake robot that can measure pressure on the entire circumference of the body. Toward expanding further application range of snake robot, we developed a snake robot mounted on a skin-type contact sensor (CoP sensor) for all the links.

In this paper, we introduce this robot and show data of CoP sensor when move inside of ducts.