Development of a peristaltic crawling robot for long-distance complex line sewer pipe inspections

Abstract

To reduce the risk of serious accidents, such as road subsidence caused by damaged and aging sewer pipes, internal inspections of sewer pipes is required. However, it is difficult to inspect small diameter pipes using existing inspection devices. In order to solve this challenge, this paper focuses on the locomotion of an earthworm that is capable of moving stably in a narrow space. A peristaltic crawling robot was developed which was capable of traveling 100 m through a 100A specification pipe using a peristaltic movement. The robot consists of a seven unit section, six joints, and a head unit equipped with a camera. It is actuated with the use of an artificial muscle operated by air pressure. The effectiveness of the new robot was evaluated by conducting experiments in horizontal, vertical, and bent pipes. In addition, the authors proposed and validated a new movement pattern to increase the robot speed in 90° elbow pipes.