US Patent 10451210 Soft body robot for in-pipe missions

Passive robot for transporting sensors and instruments such as leak sensors into water pipes. The robot includes a leak sensor having a diameter to fit closely within a water pipe. A leak sensor is flanked by, and bonded to, substantially symmetrical first and second soft bodies. End caps are provided on each of the first and second soft bodies. Each of the soft bodies has a tapering configuration with a neck portion wherein a soft body length to neck width ratio is selected to allow the soft bodies to bend permitting the passive robot to pass through sharp bends and T junctions.