Modelling of a novel in-pipe microrobot design with IPMC legs

Abstract

The majority of research activities on microrobotics have been devoted to fabrication and design. The lack of work on modelling and simulation is significant. The majority of microrobots are in-pipe microrobots. This paper presents a new in-pipe microrobot taking advantage of ionic polymer—metal composite (IPMC) actuators. The design and modelling of the robot is presented in this paper. The mathematical model of the microrobot is obtained using the extended Hamilton principle (EHP). Four steps are taken for the robot in every movement cycle. The modelling process has to be carried out for each step separately. The non-linearity of IPMC and the type of motion gait increases the complexity of the model. The main aim is to design the parameters such that the speed of progress is increased. The modelling results show that the body mass does not affect the motion speed. They also reveal that by increasing the foot angle and reducing the spring stiffness, the speed of motion will increase as well.