Chinese scientists build robot earthworm to explore engine pipes

The team at Tsinghua University say the tiny robotic device can wiggle into tiny spaces and be equipped with a camera. The creators say it can even wiggle through oil and adapt to changes in the pipe’s shape. — SCMP

Chinese scientists have developed a tiny wormlike robot that can wiggle into tiny pipes to inspect them with an endoscopic camera.

The Tsinghua University team said the small robot could navigate pipes in aircraft engines and oil refinery machines, even when they were filled with oil.