The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), in collaboration with Takenaka Corporation and Chuo University, has developed the world's first peristaltic pump capable of transporting earth and sand, and completed a testing machine.The prototype is designed and manufactured by Solaris, a venture company from Chuo University.
The peristaltic pump mechanically mimics the peristaltic movement of the intestine.Since the pressurizing mechanism is distributed on the path and the object is blocked from the outside and transported, the energy loss is small and there is no theoretical limit to the height that can be lifted.Conventional perturbation pumps have been applied to liquids / mucilages and slurries (suspensions of liquids and solid particles) with high fluidity, but not to earth and sand with low fluidity.
When transporting by a peristaltic pump, it is a challenge to alleviate the transport resistance that differs depending on the earth and sand.Therefore, analyze the relationship between the properties, water content ratio, and transport characteristics of the soil particles, devise the shape of the rubber tube to alleviate the transport resistance due to the compaction of the sediment, and provide a water content adjustment mechanism on the transport path. Made it possible to transport earth and sand.
In addition, we have manufactured small and large machines (double the diameter) for earth and sand transport peristaltic pumps.Large machines can transport more than eight times the volume of earth and sand as small machines due to the synergistic effect of scale effect and capacity increase.In addition, the large machine has been simplified and labor-saving, and various improvements have been made in anticipation of operation at the construction site, such as prevention of clogging of the frame and redesign considering the durability of artificial muscles and rubber tubes.In addition, a control program and interface for the peristaltic pump have been developed to enable flexible operation control.
In the future, we aim to improve the transfer efficiency by conducting verification and experiments from the trial run and developing the sensing inside the pump and the automatic control system linked to it.In the future, it is expected to be applied to excavation and transportation work in extreme environments such as deep seabed and lunar surface.
The prototype can be seen at the Chuo University booth at the "2019 International Robot Exhibition" to be held at Tokyo Big Sight from December 12th to 18st, 21.
