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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 30, 2025

Rod-based Fabrication of Customizable Soft Robotic Pneumatic Gripper Devices for Delicate Tissue Manipulation

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Soft-Tentacle Gripper for Pipe Crawling to Inspect Industrial Facilities Using UAVs.

F Javier Garcia Rubiales¹, Pablo Ramon Soria¹, Begoña C Arrue¹

¹GRVC Robotics Laboratory, University of Seville, Avenida de los Descubrimientos, S/N, 41092 Seville, Spain.

Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)

|July 2, 2021

Summary

A new soft-tentacle gripper enables unmanned aerial vehicles to crawl inside pipes for industrial inspection. This robotic system minimizes energy use and allows for contact-based assessments, enhancing inspection capabilities.

Keywords:

UAVs inspection soft robotics

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Area of Science:

Robotics
Mechanical Engineering
Industrial Automation

Background:

Traditional pipe inspection methods can be inefficient and costly.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) offer potential for remote inspection but often lack robust perching and crawling capabilities.
Industrial environments present unique challenges for robotic systems, including complex geometries and limited access.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and evaluate a novel crawling mechanism for UAVs to inspect pipes.
To enable aerial robots to perch and move along pipes, reducing energy consumption.
To facilitate contact-based inspection for enhanced data acquisition.

Main Methods:

Integration of a soft-tentacle gripper with a UAV.
Design of soft limbs and an internal pipe-crawling mechanism.
Utilizing additive manufacturing for system development.
Conducting experimental tests for grasping, performance, and reliability assessment.

Main Results:

Successful demonstration of the soft-tentacle gripper's ability to grasp pipes.
Validation of the crawling mechanism's performance and reliability in realistic environments.
Additive manufacturing proved effective for fabricating the complex gripper system.

Conclusions:

The developed UAV-based crawling system offers a viable solution for efficient pipe inspection in industrial settings.
The soft-tentacle gripper design enhances robotic maneuverability and energy efficiency for in-pipe operations.
This technology has the potential to significantly improve safety and reduce costs associated with industrial pipe maintenance.