• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.963-968
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• 2005

For worm robots applied to pipe inspection and colonoscopy, earthworm-like robots that have a locomotion pattern in backward wave or green caterpillar-like robots that have a locomotion pattern in forward wave have been studied widely. Note however that a method using a single and fixed locomotion pattern is not desirable in the sense of mobility cost, if there are various changes in pipe diameter. In this paper, locomotion patterns are considered for a semi-looper-like robot, which adopts a locomotion pattern of green caterpillars as the basic motion and sometimes can realize a locomotion pattern of looper, whose motion approximately consists of two rhythms or relatively low rhythm.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06b
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• pp.271-276
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• 2001

Conventional clonoscope is semiflexible tube that should be manipulated by operator for inspection and treatment. Therefore, it sometimes causes pain for the patient and even perforation to the wall of colon if a surgeon is not well trained. For safe colonoscopy, self-propelling robots with inchworm locomotion are studied. But, inchworm locomotion has some problems in adaptiveness to the variation of colon diameter. In this paper, we propose novel locomotive mechanism which can move in the colon without any external assistance. It has several cams that have constant phase difference each other and located along the centerline of the mechanism. This mechanism could realize the robotic endoscope which has continuous and smooth thrust force.