胴体のひねり動作のみで板状弾性体を膨張収縮させて移動するクローリングロボット

- 多重巻き弾性体による多様な壁面への適応 -

抄録

A mobile robot that moves in narrow environments, such as inside a pipe, usually uses a crawling mechanism. Most crawling mechanisms use an inflation part that anchors the body onto a wall and a contraction part that drives the rest of the body forward. However, the infraction part usually uses a rubber air expansion bag or a complex wall pushing mechanism, which are not suitable for extreme environments. For example, a rubber bag may easily be damaged by a hot temperature. Also, a complex wall pushing mechanism may not be used in narrow pipes. To make durable and simple crawling robots, we have proposed a mechanism that only uses twisting motion. The motion drives a body forward while thin plates inflate to anchor the body. In our previous report, we introduced a principle of this movement. We also showed a prototype robot that has a limited sheet inflation diameter. This report proposes a mechanism that realizes limitless inflation diameter by winding plates multiple times around the body. We also show a new prototype that includes batteries and controllers.