Soft Body Robot for In-Pipe Missions

• US 20180335176A1
• Filed: 05/17/2017
• Published: 11/22/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Wu, You, Youcef-Toumi, Kamal, Demay, Solene Marie Amelie
• Granted Patent: US 10,451,210 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 18/00 Arms
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 2101/30 Inspecting, measuring or testing
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 55/38 driven by fluid pressure
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 55/40 of the body
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 55/46 Launching or retrieval of pigs or moles
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 3/00 Investigating fluid-tightness of structures

Abstract

Passive robot for transporting sensors and instruments such as leak sensors into water pipes. The robot includes a leak sensor having a diameter to fit closely within a water pipe. A leak sensor is flanked by, and bonded to, substantially symmetrical first and second soft bodies. End caps are provided on each of the first and second soft bodies. Each of the soft bodies has a tapering configuration with a neck portion wherein a soft body length to neck width ratio is selected to allow the soft bodies to bend permitting the passive robot to pass through sharp bends and T junctions.

Claims

1. Passive robot for traveling inside water pipes comprising:

at least one soft body, wherein the at least one soft body is connected to sensors or instruments that require particular positions or orientations in the pipe to function;

end caps on each soft body;

wherein each of the soft bodies has a tapering configuration with a neck portion, wherein a soft body length to neck width ratio is selected to allow the soft bodies to bend permitting the passive robot, to pass through sharp bends.

2. The robot of claim 1 wherein the sharp bend is 90°

.

3. The robot of claim 1 wherein the end caps have a curvature less than a half circle, or equivalently a center of curvature in the back of the cap, to facilitate a cap escaping a step obstacle at T-junctions.

4. The robot of claim 1 wherein all electronics are embedded inside the at least one soft body.

5. The robot of claim 1 wherein the soft bodies are made of soft material such as silicone rubber.

6. The robot of claim 5 wherein the silicone rubber has a shore 00-50 hardness.

7. The robot of claim 1 wherein soft body length to neck width ratio is approximately two so the soft body robot always bends at the neck.

8. A soft material based design of a robot comprising:

at least one soft body;

at least an end cap on the soft body and an interface on the soft body that allows the soft body to bond to other rigid devices;

wherein the soft body has a neck portion, wherein a soft body length to neck width ratio is selected to allow the soft body to bend permitting the passive robot to pass through sharp bodies.