Publication: Wireless flow-powered miniature robot capable of traversing tubular structures
dc.contributor.coauthor | Hong, Chong | |
dc.contributor.coauthor | Wu, Yingdan | |
dc.contributor.coauthor | Wang, Che | |
dc.contributor.coauthor | Ren, Ziyu | |
dc.contributor.coauthor | Wang, Chunxiang | |
dc.contributor.coauthor | Liu, Zemin | |
dc.contributor.coauthor | Hu, Wenqi | |
dc.contributor.department | Department of Mechanical Engineering | |
dc.contributor.kuauthor | Sitti, Metin | |
dc.contributor.schoolcollegeinstitute | College of Engineering | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2024-12-29T09:39:38Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
dc.description.abstract | Wireless 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.indexedby | WOS | |
dc.description.indexedby | Scopus | |
dc.description.indexedby | PubMed | |
dc.description.issue | 88 | |
dc.description.publisherscope | International | |
dc.description.sponsoredbyTubitakEu | N/A | |
dc.description.sponsorship | This 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.volume | 9 | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1126/scirobotics.adi5155 | |
dc.identifier.issn | 2470-9476 | |
dc.identifier.quartile | Q1 | |
dc.identifier.scopus | 2-s2.0-85187736814 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adi5155 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14288/23080 | |
dc.identifier.wos | 1189869500001 | |
dc.keywords | Pipeline inspection | |
dc.keywords | Industrial robot | |
dc.keywords | Machine design | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science | |
dc.relation.grantno | Max Planck Society | |
dc.relation.grantno | European Research Council (ERC) advanced Grant SoMMoR project [834531] | |
dc.relation.grantno | German Research Foundation (DFG) Soft Material Robotic Systems (SPP 2100) Program [2197/3- 1] | |
dc.relation.grantno | China Scholarship Council [202006120160] | |
dc.relation.grantno | National Natural Science Foundation of China [52125505] | |
dc.relation.grantno | Alexander von Humboldt Foundation | |
dc.relation.grantno | Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology | |
dc.relation.ispartof | Science Robotics | |
dc.subject | Robotics | |
dc.title | Wireless flow-powered miniature robot capable of traversing tubular structures | |
dc.type | Journal Article | |
dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
local.contributor.kuauthor | Sitti, Metin | |
local.publication.orgunit1 | College of Engineering | |
local.publication.orgunit2 | Department of Mechanical Engineering | |
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