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JRM Vol.25 No.2 pp. 340-346
doi: 10.20965/jrm.2013.p0340
(2013)

Paper:

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Improvement of a Screw Drive In-Pipe Robot with Pathway Selection Mechanism to Pass Through T-Branches

Taiki Nishimura, Atsushi Kakogawa, and Shugen Ma†

Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Noji-Higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577, Japan

†Corresponding author

Received:
October 19, 2012
Accepted:
February 13, 2013
Published:
April 20, 2013
Creative Commons License
Keywords:
in-pipe robot, pipeline inspection, screw drive, differential mechanism
Abstract
This paper discusses the improvement of a screw drive in-pipe robot with a pathway selection mechanism. This robot is composed of three units: a screw driving unit called a rotator unit (front unit), a steering unit that bends the front unit (middle unit), and a stator unit to hold the whole body (rear unit). It passes not only through straight pipes but also bent pipes and T-branches by changing driving modes (screw driving mode, steering mode and rolling mode). These modes are performed by just two motors through a differential mechanism. The screw drive in-pipe robot previously developed cannot pass through certain T-branches. In this paper, the rear unit has been improved to solve this problem. Constraints on robot length in T-branches caused by this improvement are discussed, that is, installation of additional passive wheels on the rear unit and its rectangle model in the T-branch. Finally, to verify the effect of this improvement and its mobility, experiments are conducted in straight, bent and T-branch pipes.
Cite this article as:
T. Nishimura, A. Kakogawa, and S. Ma, “Improvement of a Screw Drive In-Pipe Robot with Pathway Selection Mechanism to Pass Through T-Branches,” J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.25 No.2, pp. 340-346, 2013.
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References
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