Mechanism Design And Dynamic Analysis On An In-Pipe Micro-Robot

The in-pipe micro-robot is an important composion division of the micro robot research realm. The in-pipe micro-robots, capable of reaching to narrowness and dangerous areas, are characterized by small size, low power supply. They have the prospect to be widely used in the fields of the chemical engineering, the nuclear power plant, the medical treatment.At first, this paper introduces generally and in detail the state of researching and developing in-pipe micro-robot for the purpose of giving me orientation, embodying the importance, researching direction of this problem and providing reference for the research of this topic.Then, three design proposals are presented for the subject, which compose the screw-driven design of in-pipe micro-robot, the cam-driven design of in-pipe micro-robot and the wheel mechanism design of in-pipe micro-robot. All the static analyses of the three proposals are made, and the driving force and moving velocity are calculated. The first proposal of screw-driven design in-pipe micro-robot is chosen after comparison from the structure and the function.The in-pipe micro-robot we designed comprises three DC motors and screw-driven units. The three motors are coordinated to realize the creeping motion. All mechanical designs are done and strength calculations are checked with the help of SolidWorks 2005 and AutoCAD 2006 software. The diameter of the robot is 13mm and the length of the robot is 190mm (when it has contracted), and it weights 100g. The load is analyzed for the case that the robot creeps in a vertical pipe. And the mechanical adjustment characteristic for the claws to adapt to the varying pipe size is also discussed in this paper.At last, with the help of ADAMS software, kinematical and dynamical simulations are presented, which give the relationship between the driving force, the moving velocity and structural parameters of the robot. Simulations also show that the robot is applicable to pipes with diameter ranging from 15 to 20mm. The driving force reaches up to 28N and the moving velocity 6mm/s.