Objective In order to make the robot reside and move actively in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to achieve a variety of medical functions,a squirming micro-robot was designed with high movement efficiency by using multipoint attachment to increase friction. Methods The gait of the proposed model was simulated and the appropriate brushless DC motor with gear reducer was selected according to the GI tract environment. A series of stretching mechanism was designed and assembled. The axial stretching mechanism and the radial multipoint attachment mechanism were analyzed emphatically. Results The diameter of the assembled robot was 13mm,the length was 29mm,and the quality was 10.2g. Driven by 3V DC voltage,the robot could operate constantly and stably for more than 40 minutes. Conclusions This squirming GI micro-robot system for inspection realized the active movement.
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