An Ultrasonic Microrobot Enabling Ultrafast Bidirectional Navigation in Confined Tubular Environments.

ABSTRACT: Pipelines are extensively used in environments such as nuclear power plants, chemical factories, and medical devices to transport gases and liquids. These tubular environments often feature complex geometries, confined spaces, and millimeter-scale height restrictions, presenting significant challenges to conventional inspection methods. Here, we present an ultrasonic microrobot (weight, 80 mg; dimensions, 24 mm × 7 mm; thickness, 210 μm) to realize agile and bidirectional navigation in narrow pipelines. The ultrathin structural design of the robot is achieved through a high-performance piezoelectric composite film microstructure based on MEMS technology. The robot exhibits various vibration modes when driven by ultrasonic frequency signals, its motion speed reaches 81 cm s-1 at 54.8 kHz, e

SUBMITTER: Cui M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12378850 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature