Design and Performance Analysis of a Pipeline Crawling Robot Based on Spring-Roll Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

With the increasing complexity of pipeline systems in various industrial and environmental applications, there is a critical need for flexible and efficient robotic solutions that can navigate and inspect confined spaces. This paper introduces a lightweight pipeline crawling robot based on spring-roll dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs). Inspired by the adaptability of caterpillars, the robot combines anisotropic friction feet with a spring-roll DEA structure to achieve high-speed movement. It operates effectively in pipes with diameters ranging from 16 mm to 20 mm, reaching a maximum speed of 357 mm/s (5.95 BL/s) under a 3.5 kV driving voltage. The optimized design enhances actuator performance and friction distribution, significantly outperforming existing soft crawling robots. This innovation demonstrates great potential for high-speed, lightweight pipeline inspection applications and advances the field of soft robotics for diverse industrial tasks.