Serpentine Robot Flying by Fluid Jet in Confined Space

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H00748
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 20:Mechanical dynamics, robotics, and related fields
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Tadokoro Satoshi 東北大学, 情報科学研究科, 教授 (40171730)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 昆陽 雅司 東北大学, 情報科学研究科, 准教授 (20400301) ; 多田隈 建二郎 東北大学, タフ・サイバーフィジカルAI研究センター, 准教授 (30508833) ; 安部 祐一 東北大学, 工学研究科, 助教 (90778622)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: レスキューロボット / 索状ロボット / 消火 / 飛行 / 流体噴射

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims to research and develop a flying hose-type firefighting robot that flies in a confined space by injecting fluid. Concretely, this study investigated four essential technologies for making the robot longer. (1): Proposal and demonstration of a stable levitation method using the dissipation effect of internal flowing fluid to suppress higher-order mode vibration of a long hose. (2): Proposal and realization of a nozzle unit that is not affected by the torsion of the hose, which often occurs in the shape deformation of the flexible hose. (3): Proposal and demonstration of a shape control method to move along the desired path in a confined space. In addition, we also realized the robot root's horizontal movement to enter the confined space while installing a vibration suppression controller on the nozzle unit. (4): Development of a new 4m long robot with an increased operating range of the nozzle to cope with contact with obstacles.

Free Research Field

ロボティクス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では，柔軟索状体の流体噴射による安定浮上ならびにねじれの影響を考慮した形状変形を世界ではじめて実現した．これらは，柔軟体を操るための本質的な問題を解決した学術的に重要な結果である．また，火災はひとたび起きると甚大な被害をもたらし，迅速かつ安全に消火する必要がある．本研究成果は，自ら火災建物内に入ってゆき，直接水を火に当てて迅速に消火する消火ホースロボットの実現のための要素技術を開発したものであり，本成果を用いることで迅速かつ安全な消火戦術を生み出すことが期待できる．