Title :
Characteristics of piezoelectric locomotive mechanism for an in-pipe micro inspection machine
Author :
Idogaki, Takaharu ; KANAYAMA, Hitoshi ; Ohya, Nobuyuki ; SUZUKI, Harumi ; Hattori, Tadashi
Author_Institution :
Res. Lab., Nippondenso Co. Ltd., Aichi, Japan
Abstract :
The characteristics of a new piezoelectric linear step locomotive mechanism for an in-pipe micro inspection machine are described. The micro inspection machine, with diameter of 5.5 mm and weight of 1 g, moves in not only straight but curved pipes. The micro inspection machine is composed of mainly four units; a shell-body which is made of thin plated metal of 60 μm thickness, two eddy current sensors which detect the micro cracks of the in-pipe wall, a locomotive mechanism and a radiator. The locomotive mechanism is composed of three parts; three clamping members which elastically contact the pipe wall to hold the weight of the micro inspection machine and one stacked PZT actuator and a mass block. The walking speed of 10 mm/sec was obtained from the driving experiment in a pipe 8 mm in diameter. The relationship between the moving speed and the driving frequency was analyzed
Keywords :
crack detection; eddy current testing; inspection; lead compounds; legged locomotion; microactuators; microcracks; mobile robots; motor drives; piezoceramics; piezoelectric actuators; piezoelectric motors; robot dynamics; 1 g; 10 mm/s; 5.5 mm; 60 micron; 8 mm; PZT; PbZrO3TiO3; curved pipe; driving frequency; eddy current sensors; impact drive; in-pipe micro inspection machine; linear step locomotive mechanism; mass block; microcrack detection; microrobot; piezoelectric actuator; piezoelectric locomotive mechanism; pipe maintenance; stacked PZT actuator; straight pipe; thin plated metal; traction force; walking speed; Clamps; Eddy currents; Electrostatics; Frequency; Inspection; Laboratories; Legged locomotion; Piezoelectric actuators; Robots; Springs;
Conference_Titel :
Micro Machine and Human Science, 1995. MHS '95., Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Nagoya
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-2676-8
DOI :
10.1109/MHS.1995.494237
