Snake-like, miniature robots redefine limits of engineering

With the completion and opening of projects such as the China-Laos Railway and the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway in Indonesia, along with the breakthroughs in domestic large aircraft and the aeroengine systems, the export volume of Chinese high-speed trains and airplane parts has been gradually increasing in recent years.

As a result, the maintenance of high-end equipment through innovation has become a major focus for Chinese researchers.

A team led by Chen Xuefeng, a professor at the iHarbour Academy of Frontier Equipment based at Xi'an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi province, has developed a biomimetic, snake-shaped robot that is forecast to revolutionize maintenance and repair work. The robot snake is capable of performing automated blade damage inspections without dismantling precision equipment like aeroengines, and can do other high-end equipment maintenance.

"In the past, inspecting an aeroengine required multiple technicians to work continuously in confined spaces for hours or to completely dismantle the engine, which was time-consuming and exhausting," said Chen.

"But in the future, our biomimetic robots will be able to perform minimally invasive maintenance without disassembling the engine. We can describe it as 'industrial minimally invasive surgery'," he said.

Last summer, Chen's team developed the insect-sized BATE (Boundary Actuation Tunable Energy-barrier) Jumper, a miniature robot with a strong jumping ability. This robot, only 15 millimeters in length, can jump 12.7 times its length vertically, and cover 20 times its length horizontally. Due to its compact and flexible design, the BATE Jumper has unique advantages in confined spaces and complex environments, making it extremely promising in fields such as exploration, search and rescue.