Design and Development of a Rapidly Deployable Low-Cost Tensegrity In-Pipe Robot

Existing in-pipe robots have insufficient adaptability when dealing with accidents in unfamiliar pipe environments. Developing a pipe robot that can be designed and manufactured quickly is one solution. The tensegrity structure is a self-stressing spatial structure formed by the interaction of rigid members and flexible cables, which has the advantages of simple structure, good flexibility, deformability, and impact resistance. Inspired by this structure, we design a novel worm-like tensegrity robot for different pipe environments, which can be manufactured rapidly at low cost. Firstly, a robotic module based on the tensegrity structure is designed inspired by the motion patterns of worm-like organisms. Then, the design process of the module is presented based on the mathematical analysis of the deformation. Finally, a prototype of the tensegrity robot is developed using simple and low-cost parts in less than an hour. To test the motion performance, load performance, and inspection capability of the tensegrity robot, we designed a series of experiments on horizontal pipes, vertical pipes, elbows, and steel pipes. Experimental results show that the worm-like tensegrity robot is simple in structure, easy to manufacture, low in cost, and good in performance.