An epoch-making handy sized sticky mobile robot has been developed, aiming to search and rescue survivors inside the half collapsed buildings caused by big earthquakes. After the robot is tossed through small spaces, it moves around the rugged or bumpy wall and ceiling to overlook the floor by the installed camera. To generate large enough adhesive force even on the rugged wall, a gel mat made of urethane is introduced, whose force can be recovered by the washing function. Developed sticky robot based on the above method could realize the 3D mobile performance on the rugged wall and ceiling with the function of washing of the gel mat and monitoring the scene of the inside of the building. The validity of the application to the rescue inspector is also verified.

A novel fluid power actuator called flat ring tube (FRT) is introduced in this paper. The mechanism of FRT is so simple that it only needs a urethane flat tube and some water pressure. No valves or switches are required. Applying constant water pressure results in periodic oscillation of the tube. The frequency is proportional to the flow rate of the water and inversely proportional to the tube length. By contacting the tube with a motor shaft, the motor rotates due to the periodic tube oscillation. Thus, we succeeded in rotating the motor without using any electricity. There are many possible applications with FRT, and we are developing a wearable massage device which makes people feel comfortable and improves their circulation of the blood.