Abstract
Climbing robot requires adhesion mechanism for holding the robot on to the surface and locomotion mechanism for moving the robot along the wall surface in order to perform various tasks such as glass façade cleaning and remote surface inspection of civil structures. Pneumatic adhesion force control has a prominent role for safe locomotion of the climbing robot. In case of insufficient adhesion force or airflow leakage, the robot may not work properly while carrying payload such as cleaning device, multiple sensors, and power systems, etc. Actuation and de-actuation (open and close modes) of adhesion force control of multi-suction cups based on the traditional design restricts its application particularly in climbing on wall structures where the weight and electrical power have a major concern. In the present study, pneumatic adhesion mechanism based on flat suction cup has been chosen for its performance characteristics analysis, while operation under rough and smooth wall surface conditions. Based on these experimental investigations and stability analysis, pneumatic adhesion and timing belt mechanisms for simultaneous operations of adhesion and locomotion have been developed. The developed concept for multi-suction cup-based timing belt mechanism is implemented in a mobile robot for climbing on a vertical/inclined wall surface. The manufacturing trials for simultaneous locomotion and adhesion required for surface climbing have also been conducted under static and dynamic situations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Kim H, Kim D, Yang H, Lee K, Seo K, Chang D, Kim J (2008) Development of a wall-climbing robot using a tracked wheel mechanism. J Mech Sci Technol 22(8):1490–1498
Giuk L, Kim H, Seo K, Kim J, Kim HS (2015) MultiTrack: a multi-linked track robot with suction adhesion for climbing and transition. Robot Auton Syst 72:207–216
Ge D, Ren C, Matsuno T, Ma S (2016) Guide rail design for a passive suction cup based wall-climbing robot. In: 2016 IEEE/RSJ international conference on intelligent robots and systems (IROS). IEEE, pp 5776–5781
Zhou Q, Li X (2018) Experimental investigation on climbing robot using rotation-flow adsorption unit. Robot Auton Syst 105:112–120
Liu J, Tanaka K, Bao LM, Yamaura I (2006) Analytical modelling of suction cups used for window-cleaning robots. Vacuum 80(6):593–598
Koo IM, Trong TD, Lee YH, Moon H, Koo J, Park SK, Choi HR (2013) Development of wall climbing robot system by using impeller type adhesion mechanism. J Intell Robot Syst 72(1):57–72
Akutsu A, Sasaki E, Takeya K, Kobayashi Y, Suzuki K, Tamura H (2017) A comprehensive study on development of a small-sized self-propelled robot for bridge inspection. Struct Infrastruct Eng 13(8):1056–1067
Zhang H, Zhang J, Wang W, Liu R, Zong G (2007) A series of pneumatic glass-wall cleaning robots for high-rise buildings. Ind Robot Int J 34(2):150–160
Zhang HX, Wang W, Zhang JW (2009) High stiffness pneumatic actuating scheme and improved position control strategy realization of a pneumatic climbing robot. In: ROBIO 2008 IEEE international conference on robotics and biomimetics, pp 1806–1811
Bisht RS, Alexander SJ (2013) Mobile robots for periodic maintenance and inspection of civil infrastructure: a review. In: International conference on machines and mechanisms (iNaCoMM), pp 1050–1057
Xiao J, Li B, Ushiroda K, Song Q (2015) Rise-Rover: a wall-climbing robot with high reliability and load-carrying capacity. In: 2015 IEEE international conference on robotics and biomimetics (ROBIO). IEEE, pp 2072–2077
Hillenbrand C, Schmidt D, Berns K (2008) CROMSCI: development of a climbing robot with negative pressure adhesion for inspections. Ind Robot Int J 35(3):228–237
Huston D, Burns D, Gardner-Morse J, Montane P, Angola E (2014) Dual-durometer soft suction foot robot for concrete inspection. In: Health monitoring of structural and biological systems, international society for optics and photonics, (9064), 90642Q
Fujita M, Ikeda S, Fujimoto T, Shimizu T, Ikemoto S, Miyamoto T (2018) Development of universal vacuum gripper for wall-climbing robot. Adv Robot 32(6):283–296
El-Sherbiny YM, Hasouna AT, Ali WY (2012) Friction coefficient of rubber sliding against flooring materials. J Eng Appl Sci 7(1):121–126
Tuononen AJ (2016) Onset of frictional sliding of rubber–glass contact under dry and lubricated conditions. Sci Rep 6:27951
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to the Director CSRI-CBRI for providing the opportunity to carry out this research work. The research work is financially supported by XII 5-year plan network projects: ESC0102 and ESC0112 of CSIR-CBRI, Roorkee. Thanks to all the team members of XII 5-year plan project and supporting staff of AIMS Group of CSIR-CBRI, Roorkee for their cooperation and support while conducting laboratory trials.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bisht, R.S., Pathak, P.M., Panigrahi, S.K. (2021). Development of a Climbing Robot Based on Multi-suction Cups Mounted on Timing Belt Mechanism. In: Sen, D., Mohan, S., Ananthasuresh, G. (eds) Mechanism and Machine Science. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4477-4_47
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4477-4_47
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-4476-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-4477-4
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)