Mathematical modeling and computer simulation of the wheeled vibration-driven in-pipe robot motion

Abstract

The in-pipe robots are currently of significant interest, considering numerous recent publications on this subject. Such machines can use various locomotion principles: wheeled, tracked (caterpillar), walking (legged), screw-type, worm-type, snake-type, etc. In most cases, such robots are equipped with an active drive system transmitting the torque from a motor shaft to the corresponding locomotion mechanism (wheels, tracks, etc.). The present paper is devoted to the wheeled in-pipe robot that doesn’t need a complex transmission. In such a case, the idea of implementing the vibratory locomotion system driven by an internal unbalanced mass is proposed. The corresponding kinematic diagram of the wheeled vibration-driven in-pipe robot is developed, and the differential equations describing the robot motion are deduced. In order to carry out the virtual experimental investigations, the robot’s simulation model is designed in the SolidWorks software. The major scientific novelty of the present research consists in developing the theoretical foundation for designing and practical implementation of the in-pipe robots driven by the inertial vibration exciters and equipped with the unidirectionally rotating wheels and overrunning clutches. The results of numerical modeling and computer simulation of the robot motion substantiate the possibilities and expediency of implementing the proposed vibration-driven locomotion principles while creating novel designs of the in-pipe robots.