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Updated: Sep 21, 2025

Manufacturing, Control, and Performance Evaluation of a Gecko-Inspired Soft Robot
Published on: June 10, 2020
A minimally designed soft crawling robot for robust locomotion in unstructured pipes
Wenkai Yu1, Xin Li1, Dunyu Chen1
1Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Soft Mechanics & Smart Manufacturing, Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Soft robots have attracted increasing attention due to their excellent versatility and broad applications. In this article, we present a minimally designed soft crawling robot (SCR) capable of robust locomotion in unstructured pipes with various geometric/material properties and surface topology. In particular, the SCR can squeeze through narrow pipes smaller than its cross section and propel robustly in spiked pipes. The gait pattern and locomotion mechanism of this robot are experimentally investigated and analysed by the finite element analysis, revealing that the resultant forward frictional force is generated due to the asymmetric mechanical properties along the length direction of the robot. The proposed simple yet working SCR could inspire novel designs and applications of soft robots in unstructured narrow canals such as large intestines or industrial pipelines.
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