Pipe inspection is of great importance from both safety and cost perspectives. Despite extensive research, in-pipe robots with multi-locomotion capability have not been fully explored. Here, we develop a multi-locomotion soft robot, with a compact yet robust structure, that can hop for speed and crawl for maneuverability in horizontal and vertical pipes for pipe inspection. The robot consists of two motors, cables, and several longitudinally arranged elastic ribbons. These ribbons, with strategically designed profiles, are 3D-printed and can be buckled into three-dimensional shapes by pulling cables, thereby achieving hopping and crawling (forward and backward) by issuing different actuation sequences and parameters of the two motors. We studied the effect of ribbon design and pulling/releasing duration on the hopping and crawling performance. Our findings may shed light on the development of in-pipe robots with new functionality and applications.

从安全和成本的角度来看，管道检查都非常重要。尽管进行了广泛的研究，但尚未全面探索具有多运动能力的管道内机器人。在这里，我们开发了一种具有紧凑但坚固耐用的结构的多运动软机器人，它可以在水平和垂直管道中进行跳跃和跳跃，以实现对管道检查的可操纵性。该机器人由两个电机，电缆和几个纵向排列的弹性带组成。这些色带具有经过精心设计的轮廓，经过3D打印，可以通过拉动电缆将其弯曲成三维形状，从而通过发出不同的驱动顺序和两个电机的参数来实现跳跃和爬行（向前和向后）。我们研究了色带设计和拉/放时间对跳变和爬行性能的影响。