Abstract
This paper describes the development of a prototype of new in-pipe mobile microrobot with a very simple 3-D steering mechanism. The microrobot consists of a steering mechanism and a driving mechanism. The steering mechanism is structured by four rubber bellows arranged in the matrix. The front and rear part of four rubber bellows are fixed by nylon strings. The rubber bellows are 5 mm in outer diameter, 2 mm in inner diameter and 20 mm long. The driving mechanism is structured by three plastic bellows arranged in series. The plastic bellows are 18 mm in outer diameter, 14mm in inner diameter and 22 mm long. The steering mechanism was confirmed to steer the microrobot to the direction of any 45 degree in the two dimensional plane. The microrobot is able to move at the maximum speed of 32.9 mm/s at the Y junction.
