Development of in-pipe robot capable of coping with various diameters

Abstract

This paper describes a robot capable of inspecting a pipe. The robot is composed of units and connecting links. Three or more units are combined for the robot to move in a straight pipe, while four or more units are needed to move and turn in a divergent pipe. It is also able to with pipes with different diameters by adjusting to the number of units. Several experiments are conducted in the pipes with different diameters, and the effectiveness of the mechanism of the robot is confirmed.