Miniature Pipe Crawler
 When engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center wanted to explore various means for creating a device that could crawl through the coolant lines of the Space Shuttle's main engine (SSME), they called on Dynamic Structures and Materials (DSM). DSM offers custom design capabilities for precision motion control platforms required for unique positioning applications and environments.
The miniature tube crawling device was developed in response to NASA's request for the development of miniature inspection technologies. This particular crawler is intended to enable imaging of a small (less than one inch) pipe for long distances (greater than ten feet) with greater than 90º turns having radii > 4". To provide the ability for introducing inspection equipment into the tube, the tube crawling device needed to be capable of pulling a 5 lbf. load through the pipe at a rate of 2-5 mm/sec.
DSM designed the crawler around a miniature DC brushless motor and a unique locomotion technique. This technique utilizes wheels traveling in a helical motion to advance the crawler down the tube. Solid-state flexures provide a spring preload for the stator's contact wheels and rotor hub's wheels. The rotor hub is designed with a slight lead angle to generate a helical motion that propels the crawler forward and backward.
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