A Passively Growing Sheath for Reducing Friction of Linearly Moving Structures
Keywords:
Growing robot, Reducing friction, Zipper mechanism, Pipe inspectionAbstract
A linearly moving structure in the area where the friction force is dominant, such as ducts filled with grease in the nuclear power plant, experiences an increase in friction since the contact surface gets larger as the structure proceeds. To solve this problem is critical for the pipe inspection robot to investigate further areas and this makes the system more energy-efficient. In this paper, we propose a passively growing sheath that can be added to linearly moving structures using a zipper mechanism. The mechanism enables the linearly moving structures to maintain rolling contact conditions against the external environment, which provides a substantial reduction in kinetic friction. To analyze the effect of the mechanism’s head shape, a physical model was established and compared to the experimental results in this study. Finally, the passively growing sheath was shown to be successfully applied to the pipe inspection robot for the nuclear power plant.
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