Non-assembly Walking Mechanism for Robotic In-Pipe Inspection

The manufacture and assembly of small-scale robotics can be expensive and time-consuming using traditional methods; especially when complex mechanisms are involved. By refining current additive manufacturing techniques a micro-scale walking robot can be 3D printed without the need for any complex mechanical assembly. The robot requires only the addition of simple circuitry and 2 motors, one for each of the 1 degree of freedom walking mechanisms before it is capable of being driven wirelessly. Once fully assembled, differential drive of the parallel leg sets allows for locomotion in any direction on a 2-D plane. The robot’s compact size; just 62 mm (x) × 38 mm (y) × 88 mm (z), and leg curvature makes travel possible through borehole/pipe diameters as low as 65 mm. By pushing printer tolerances to the limit, complex mechanisms can work in Non-Assembly at a small scale. Through the Query application of these Non-Assembly techniques to field robots such as those intended for use in the Pipebots project could allow for the production of large swarms of robots quickly and affordably.