Study on Locomotion Mechanism of Pipe Inspection Robot with Rotating Horn

—Realization of Thrust and Steering with Eccentric Horn at Robot's Head and Elastic Cilia—

Abstract

In this study, we propose a locomotion mechanism with rotation of curved horns and vibration of elastic cilia of a mobile robot for pipe inspection. At first, the mobile robot with elastic cilia and a vibration motor was developed to examine the thrust with vibrating cilia. The cilium of this first prototype has a circular cross section. Second, the vibration motor was replaced with tilted horn that rotates around roll axis of the robot at its head. This second prototype selects a route in branching pipes by orienting its horn to the desired direction. It can also move forward and backward with continuous rotation of its horn and soft cilia with rectangle cross section. Fundamental running experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of the rotating horn with the biased center of mass and elastic cilia of the pipe inspection robot.