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A Bio-inspired Climbing Robot with Flexible Pads and Claws

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Abstract

Many animals exhibit strong mechanical interlocking in order to achieve efficient climbing against rough surfaces by using their claws in the pads. To maximally use the mechanical interlocking, an innovative robot which utilizes flexible pad with claws is designed. The mechanism for attachments of the claws against rough surfaces is further revealed according to the theoretical analysis. Moreover, the effects of the key parameters on the performances of the climbing robots are obtained. It indicates that decreasing the size of the tip of the claws while maintaining its stiffness unchanged can effectively improve the attachment ability. Furthermore, the structure of robot body and two foot trajectories are proposed and the new robot is presented. Using experimental tests, it demonstrates that this robot has high stability and adaptability while climbing on vertical rough surfaces up to a speed of 4.6 cm·s−1.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51375232) and Key Plan of Research and Development of Jiangsu Province (BE2017766).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Aihong Ji, Zhihui Zhao, Poramate Manoonpong, Wei Wang, Guangming Chen & Zhendong Dai

  2. CBR Embodied AI & Neurorobotics Lab, The MærskMc-Kinney Møller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark

    Poramate Manoonpong

Authors
  1. Aihong Ji
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  2. Zhihui Zhao
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  3. Poramate Manoonpong
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  4. Wei Wang
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  5. Guangming Chen
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  6. Zhendong Dai
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Correspondence to Aihong Ji.

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Ji, A., Zhao, Z., Manoonpong, P. et al. A Bio-inspired Climbing Robot with Flexible Pads and Claws. J Bionic Eng 15, 368–378 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-018-0028-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-018-0028-6

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