Publication:
Wireless flow-powered miniature robot capable of traversing tubular structures

dc.contributor.coauthorHong, Chong
dc.contributor.coauthorWu, Yingdan
dc.contributor.coauthorWang, Che
dc.contributor.coauthorRen, Ziyu
dc.contributor.coauthorWang, Chunxiang
dc.contributor.coauthorLiu, Zemin
dc.contributor.coauthorHu, Wenqi
dc.contributor.departmentDepartment of Mechanical Engineering
dc.contributor.kuauthorSitti, Metin
dc.contributor.schoolcollegeinstituteCollege of Engineering
dc.date.accessioned2024-12-29T09:39:38Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractWireless millimeter-scale robots capable of navigating through fluid-flowing tubular structures hold substantial potential for inspection, maintenance, or repair use in nuclear, industrial, and medical applications. However, prevalent reliance on external powering constrains these robots' operational range and applicable environments. Alternatives with onboard powering must trade off size, functionality, and operation duration. Here, we propose a wireless millimeter-scale wheeled robot capable of using environmental flows to power and actuate its long-distance locomotion through complex pipelines. The flow-powering module can convert flow energy into mechanical energy, achieving an impeller speed of up to 9595 revolutions per minute, accompanied by an output power density of 11.7 watts per cubic meter and an efficiency of 33.7%. A miniature gearbox module can further transmit the converted mechanical energy into the robot's locomotion system, allowing the robot to move against water flow at an average rate of up to 1.05 meters per second. The robot's motion status (moving against/with flow or pausing) can be switched using an external magnetic field or an onboard mechanical regulator, contingent on different proposed control designs. In addition, we designed kirigami-based soft wheels for adaptive locomotion. The robot can move against flows of various substances within pipes featuring complex geometries and diverse materials. Solely powered by flow, the robot can transport cylindrical payloads with a diameter of up to 55% of the pipe's diameter and carry devices such as an endoscopic camera for pipeline inspection, a wireless temperature sensor for environmental temperature monitoring, and a leak-stopper shell for infrastructure maintenance.
dc.description.indexedbyWOS
dc.description.indexedbyScopus
dc.description.indexedbyPubMed
dc.description.issue88
dc.description.publisherscopeInternational
dc.description.sponsoredbyTubitakEuN/A
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was funded by the Max Planck Society, European Research Council (ERC) advanced Grant SoMMoR project grant no. 834531 and German Research Foundation (DFG) Soft Material Robotic Systems (SPP 2100) Program grant no. 2197/3- 1. C.H. thanks the China Scholarship Council (grant no. 202006120160) for financial support. Y.W. thanks the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 52125505) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for financial support. W.H. thanks startup funding and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
dc.description.volume9
dc.identifier.doi10.1126/scirobotics.adi5155
dc.identifier.issn2470-9476
dc.identifier.quartileQ1
dc.identifier.scopus2-s2.0-85187736814
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adi5155
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14288/23080
dc.identifier.wos1189869500001
dc.keywordsPipeline inspection
dc.keywordsIndustrial robot
dc.keywordsMachine design
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science
dc.relation.grantnoMax Planck Society
dc.relation.grantnoEuropean Research Council (ERC) advanced Grant SoMMoR project [834531]
dc.relation.grantnoGerman Research Foundation (DFG) Soft Material Robotic Systems (SPP 2100) Program [2197/3- 1]
dc.relation.grantnoChina Scholarship Council [202006120160]
dc.relation.grantnoNational Natural Science Foundation of China [52125505]
dc.relation.grantnoAlexander von Humboldt Foundation
dc.relation.grantnoDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
dc.relation.ispartofScience Robotics
dc.subjectRobotics
dc.titleWireless flow-powered miniature robot capable of traversing tubular structures
dc.typeJournal Article
dspace.entity.typePublication
local.contributor.kuauthorSitti, Metin
local.publication.orgunit1College of Engineering
local.publication.orgunit2Department of Mechanical Engineering
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublicationba2836f3-206d-4724-918c-f598f0086a36
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryba2836f3-206d-4724-918c-f598f0086a36
relation.isParentOrgUnitOfPublication8e756b23-2d4a-4ce8-b1b3-62c794a8c164
relation.isParentOrgUnitOfPublication.latestForDiscovery8e756b23-2d4a-4ce8-b1b3-62c794a8c164

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