RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
A1 Ivančo, Vladimír
A1 Dovica, Miroslav
A1 Gorzás, Michal
T1 In-pipe Minimachine and Principles of its Motion and Control
JF Acta Mechanica Slovaca
YR 2010
VO 14
IS 2
SP 66
OP 71
UL https://www.actamechanica.sk/artkey/ams-201002-0009.php
AB The paper deals with the minimachine designed to move within the pipes with inner diameter less than 25 mm. The minimachine consists of two modules connected by a link of variable length enabling to change their mutual distance. Motion is based on inchworm principle known from biology. In motion sequence one of the modules is anchored to the inner surface of the pipe, while the second is released and moved forward by change of the link length. The principle of the link length change consists in transformation of the actuator rotary movement to the linear motion. Problem of anchoring the modules by flexible metal bristles is analyzed in the paper.