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工程设计学报
Chinese Journal of Engineering Design  2025, Vol. 32 Issue (1): 72-81    DOI: 10.3785/j.issn.1006-754X.2025.04.101
Robotic and Mechanism Design     
Design of soft pipeline robot based on Kresling origami structure
Weitao HAN(),Tao WEN,Lei LIU,Junfeng HU()
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China
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Abstract  

Aiming at the limitations of traditional rigid pipeline robots such as large volume and poor adaptability to unstructured environments, a soft pipeline robot based on Kresling origami structure is designed. Inspired by peristaltic crawling mode, the soft pipeline robot employed a tower spring-Kresling origami structure as the telescopic structure and silicone friction belts as the friction structure. The robot achieved a maximum payload of 5.9 times its own mass, a horizontal crawling speed of 25.14 mm/s and a crawling speed of 9.96 mm/s in vertical pipelines. Then, the effects of the telescopic structure type, the shrinkage length, material and angle parameters of Kresling origami structure, and the friction force on the robot's crawling speed were analyzed. Finally, the robot prototype was fabricated and the feasibility of the robot crawling in pipelines with different inner diameters, inclination angles and shapes was demonstrated through experiments. The results showed that the designed robot had good adaptability and flexibility, and could use the compliance of Kresling origami structure to adapt to the complex pipeline environment, which provided a novel way for pipeline detection, maintenance and other applications.

Key words： Kresling origami structure      soft pipeline robot      telescopic structure      friction structure      compliance     
Received: 09 January 2024      Published: 04 March 2025
CLC:  TH 122  
Corresponding Authors: Junfeng HU     E-mail: 1300750231@qq.com;hjfsuper@126.com
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Weitao HAN
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Cite this article:

Weitao HAN,Tao WEN,Lei LIU,Junfeng HU. Design of soft pipeline robot based on Kresling origami structure. Chinese Journal of Engineering Design, 2025, 32(1): 72-81.

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https://www.zjujournals.com/gcsjxb/10.3785/j.issn.1006-754X.2025.04.101     OR     https://www.zjujournals.com/gcsjxb/Y2025/V32/I1/72


基于Kresling折纸结构的软体管道机器人设计

针对传统刚性管道机器人体积大、对非结构化环境适应性差等缺陷，设计了一种基于Kresling折纸结构的软体管道机器人。受蠕动爬行方式启发，软体管道机器人以塔簧-Kresling折纸结构作为伸缩结构，以硅胶摩擦带作为摩擦结构。该机器人的最大负载为自身质量的5.9倍，最大水平爬行速度为25.14 mm/s，在垂直管道中的爬行速度可达9.96 mm/s。随后，分析了伸缩结构类型，Kresling折纸结构的收缩长度、材质与角度参数以及摩擦力等因素对机器人爬行速度的影响。最后，制作了机器人样机并通过实验展示了机器人在不同内径、倾斜角度、形状的管道中爬行的可行性。结果表明，所设计的机器人具有良好的适应性和灵活性，能利用Kresling折纸结构的柔顺性来适应复杂管道环境，这为管道探测、检修等应用提供了新颖的方式。


关键词： Kresling折纸结构,  软体管道机器人,  伸缩结构,  摩擦结构,  柔顺性 
Fig.1 Motion principle of soft pipeline robot
Fig.2 Tower spring-Kresling origami structure
Fig.3 Flexible friction belt model
Fig.4 Friction principle of robot during crawling process
Fig.5 Force analysis of friction belt during robot crawling process
Fig.6 Overall structure of robot and disk structure
Fig.7 Control system of robot prototype and its crawling effect
Fig.8 Comparison of robot crawling speed under different telescopic structures
Fig.9 Comparison of robot crawling speed under different motor working parameters
Fig.10 Comparison of robot crawling speed under different Kresling origami structure materials
Fig.11 Comparison of robot crawling speed under different Kresling origami structure angle parameters
Fig.12 Experimental results of stretching speed measurement for tower spring-Kresling origami structure
Fig.13 Measurement device and results for friction force of friction belt
Fig.14 Influence of friction belt type on robot crawling distance
Fig.15 Influence of friction belt twill angle on robot crawling distance
Fig.16 Experimental results of robot load capacity test
Fig.17 Robot crawling effect in horizontal pipelines with different inner diameters
Fig.18 Comparison of crawling distance of robot in horizontal pipelines with different inner diameters
Fig.19 Robot crawling effect in pipelines with different inclined angles
Fig.20 Comparison of crawling speed of robot in pipelines with different inclined angles
Fig.21 Robot crawling effect in pipelines with different shapes
Fig.22 Robot crawling effect in curved pipelines
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