Soft Everting Robot with Inflatable Beams and Flanged Tip Mount for Enhanced Stability

Researchers have developed an improved tip-extending soft "vine" robot system that combines inflatable external beams with a novel flanged tip mount design.

Vine robots make use of soft, compliant tubes that extend by pushing their inverted material outward (eversion), allowing them to navigate complex environments without moving parts. However, current vine robots face significant limitations in constrained environments. Internal tip mounts jam during turns, while external cap designs restrict robot body diameter, reducing propulsion force and stability.

The inventors have improved upon the vine robot design to address this challenge by creating a tip mount that allows maximum vine robot body diameter while maintaining stability during navigation and turns. Laboratory testing of the new design in pipe environments demonstrates increased propulsion force compared to standard vine robots, with dramatically improved stability during retraction through both straight and curved pipe sections. The technology enables enhanced inspection and navigation in constrained environments like pipe networks, rubble piles, and nuclear facilities, where current robotic systems struggle to operate effectively.

Stage of Development:

Prototype. Multiple working versions built and tested in controlled pipe environments with quantitative performance measurements.