Related papers: Adaptable, shape-conforming robotic endoscope
Flexible robots have advantages over rigid robots in their ability to conform physically to their environment and to form a wide variety of shapes. Sensing the force applied by or to flexible robots is useful for both navigation and…
Inflatable structures used in soft robotics applications exhibit unique characteristics. In particular, the tip-extension structure, which grows from the tip, can grow without friction against the environment. However, these inflatable…
This paper presents a novel design and experimental investigation for a self-propelled capsule robot that can be used for painless colonoscopy during a retrograde progression from the patient's rectum. The steerable robot is driven forward…
Open source hardware has the potential to revolutionise the way we build scientific instruments; with the advent of readily-available 3D printers, mechanical designs can now be shared, improved and replicated faster and more easily than…
To move away from open-heart surgery towards safer transcatheter procedures, there is a growing need for improved imaging techniques and robotic solutions to enable simple, accurate tool navigation. Common imaging modalities, such as…
Leak detection and water quality monitoring are requirements and challenging tasks in Water Distribution Systems (WDS). In-line robots are designed for this aim. In our previous work, we designed an in-pipe robot [1]. In this research, we…
In-situ aeroengine maintenance works are highly beneficial as it can significantly reduce the current maintenance cycle which is extensive and costly due to the disassembly requirement of engines from aircrafts. However, navigating in/out…
Traditional rigid endoscopes have challenges in flexibly treating tumors located deep in the brain, and low operability and fixed viewing angles limit its development. This study introduces a novel dual-segment flexible robotic endoscope…
This paper reports a practical articulated wheeled in-pipe inspection robot "AIRo-7.1" which is waterproof and dustproof, and can adapt to 3 to 4 in inner diameters. The joint torque can be adjusted by a PWM open-loop control. The middle…
Microscopic robots could perform tasks with high spatial precision, such as acting on precisely-targeted cells in biological tissues. Some tasks may benefit from robots that change shape, such as elongating to improve chemical gradient…
Fast and safe manipulation of flexible objects with a robot manipulator necessitates measures to cope with vibrations. Existing approaches either increase the task execution time or require complex models and/or additional instrumentation…
Colonoscopy is considered the golden standard for cancer screening of the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract, with screening programs all over the world considering lowering the recommended screening age. Nonetheless, conventional…
The optimal design seeks the best possible solution(s) for a mechanical structure, device, or system, satisfying a series of requirements and leading to the best performance. In this work, optimized nozzle shapes have been designed for a…
In this paper, we present a novel rolling, jumping robot. The robot consists of a driven pendulum mounted to a wheel in a compact, lightweight, 3D printed design. We show that by driving the pendulum to shift the robot's weight…
Reconfigurable robots are at the forefront of robotics innovation due to their unmatched versatility and adaptability in addressing various tasks through collaborative operations. This paper explores the design and implementation of a novel…
Back injuries are the most prevalent work-related musculoskeletal disorders and represent a major cause of disability. Although innovations in wearable robots aim to alleviate this hazard, the majority of existing exoskeletons are obtrusive…
Faced with strong demand for robots working in underwater pipeline environments, a novel underwater multi-model locomotion robot is designed and studied in this research. By mimicking the earthworm's metameric body, the robot is segmented…
This research proposes a novel morphing structure with shells inspired by the movement of pillbugs. Instead of the pillbug body, a loopcoupled mechanism based on slider-crank mechanisms is utilized to achieve the rolling up and spreading…
Miniaturised soft pneumatic actuators are crucial for robotic intervention within highly constrained anatomical pathways. This work presents the design and validation of a fibre-reinforced soft actuator at the centimetre scale for inte-…
Fecal incontinence, arising from a myriad of pathogenic mechanisms, has attracted considerable global attention. Despite its significance, the replication of the defecatory system for studying fecal incontinence mechanisms remains limited…