当前位置: X-MOL 学术Sci. Robot. › 论文详情
Our official English website, www.x-mol.net, welcomes your feedback! (Note: you will need to create a separate account there.)
Wireless flow-powered miniature robot capable of traversing tubular structures
Science Robotics ( IF 25.0 ) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 , DOI: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.adi5155
Chong Hong, Yingdan Wu, Che Wang, Ziyu Ren, Chunxiang Wang, Zemin Liu, Wenqi Hu, Metin Sitti

Wireless millimeter-scale robots capable of navigating through fluid-flowing tubular structures hold substantial potential for inspection, maintenance, or repair use in nuclear, industrial, and medical applications. However, prevalent reliance on external powering constrains these robots’ operational range and applicable environments. Alternatives with onboard powering must trade off size, functionality, and operation duration. Here, we propose a wireless millimeter-scale wheeled robot capable of using environmental flows to power and actuate its long-distance locomotion through complex pipelines. The flow-powering module can convert flow energy into mechanical energy, achieving an impeller speed of up to 9595 revolutions per minute, accompanied by an output power density of 11.7 watts per cubic meter and an efficiency of 33.7%. A miniature gearbox module can further transmit the converted mechanical energy into the robot’s locomotion system, allowing the robot to move against water flow at an average rate of up to 1.05 meters per second. The robot’s motion status (moving against/with flow or pausing) can be switched using an external magnetic field or an onboard mechanical regulator, contingent on different proposed control designs. In addition, we designed kirigami-based soft wheels for adaptive locomotion. The robot can move against flows of various substances within pipes featuring complex geometries and diverse materials. Solely powered by flow, the robot can transport cylindrical payloads with a diameter of up to 55% of the pipe’s diameter and carry devices such as an endoscopic camera for pipeline inspection, a wireless temperature sensor for environmental temperature monitoring, and a leak-stopper shell for infrastructure maintenance.

中文翻译:

能够穿越管状结构的无线流量驱动微型机器人

能够在流体流动的管状结构中导航的无线毫米级机器人在核、工业和医疗应用中具有巨大的检查、维护或修理潜力。然而,普遍依赖外部供电限制了这些机器人的操作范围和适用环境。板载供电的替代方案必须权衡尺寸、功能和运行持续时间。在这里,我们提出了一种无线毫米级轮式机器人,能够利用环境流来驱动和驱动其通过复杂管道的长距离运动。该流动动力模块可将流动能转化为机械能,叶轮转速高达每分钟9595转,输出功率密度为每立方米11.7瓦,效率为33.7%。微型齿轮箱模块可以进一步将转换后的机械能传输到机器人的运动系统中,使机器人能够以平均每秒1.05米的速度逆着水流移动。机器人的运动状态(逆流移动/顺流移动或暂停)可以使用外部磁场或机载机械调节器进行切换,具体取决于不同的控制设计。此外,我们还设计了基于剪纸的软轮,用于自适应运动。该机器人可以在具有复杂几何形状和多种材料的管道内逆着各种物质的流动移动。该机器人仅由流量驱动,可运输直径达管道直径 55% 的圆柱形有效负载,并携带用于管道检查的内窥镜摄像头、用于环境温度监测的无线温度传感器和防漏外壳等设备。用于基础设施维护。
更新日期:2024-03-14
down
wechat
bug