2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Flexible mobile robot for inspection driven by ciliary actuators
| Project/Area Number |
17K06255
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Intelligent mechanics/Mechanical systems
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| Research Institution | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | 水力学的骨格 / 柔軟ロボット / 繊毛アクチュエータ / 機械式制御弁 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
A hydraulic skeleton of living organisms can be applied to flexible mechanisms with sealed bag structures. In this application, we focused on the ciliary movement of living organisms and developed a ciliary actuator that performs effective and recovery strokes. In our previous research, the ciliary actuator was realized by combining multiple bags. This mechanism requires a large number of control valves. In this study, we have developed a new actuator by one bag with a special shape. The new actuator enables to reduce the number of control valves. This study also developed a dedicated mechanical valve that can control a large number of pipelines by stacking layer structured mechanical valves. Utilizing these technologies, a thin omnidirectional ciliary mobile robot was manufactured. In addition, we have also developed flexible bedding with these technologies.
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| Free Research Field |
フレキシブルメカニズム
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
柔軟な機構は近年研究が増加しつつあるものの、本研究の様に構造部品まで全て柔軟なものを利用して全体が柔軟に変形する機構はまだ少ないと言える。特に繊毛アクチュエータについては、いくつかの既存研究があるものの、やはり構造全体が柔軟に変形するものは少ない。機械システムが人間に近い空間に存在することが予想される昨今の情勢において、本研究の様に全体が柔軟な機械システムは安全性および利用者の安心感の面から重要な意味をもつと考えられる。
このような観点から人体に直接触れる可能性のある全体が柔軟な機械システムは社会的意義から考えても有用であると言える。
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