SpringWorm: A Soft Crawling Robot with a Large-Range Omnidirectional Deformable Rectangular Spring for Control Rod...

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Inspection of welds in reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) is critical for nuclear safety.
• Existing inspection methods may face limitations in confined or complex geometries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and develop a cable-driven elastic backbone worm-like robot (SpringWorm) for enhanced crack inspection in RPV welds.
• To investigate the robot's adaptability and mobility in challenging environments.

Main Methods:

• Design of a decimeter-level robot with a rectangular helix spring backbone and electromagnet-embedded claws.
• Development of kinematic and mechanical models using geometric analysis and transformation matrices.
• Experimental validation of the robot's performance, including locomotion and force accuracy.

Main Results:

• The robot, SpringWorm, exhibits high adaptability for crack inspection in RPV welds.
• Kinematic and mechanical models accurately predict backbone deformation and driving forces.
• The robot demonstrates robust mobility, overcoming obstacles and navigating complex surfaces.

Conclusions:

• SpringWorm offers a promising solution for in-situ inspection of critical nuclear components.
• The robot's design integrates omnidirectional deformation and passive adsorption for versatile locomotion.
• Experimental results validate the theoretical models and demonstrate the robot's practical capabilities.