Passively Adaptable Wall Climbing Robot in Narrow Space

Anna Ariga; Tomoyuki Yamaguchi; Shuji Hashimoto

doi:10.20965/jrm.2011.p1055

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JRM Vol.23 No.6 pp. 1055-1065

doi: 10.20965/jrm.2011.p1055

(2011)

Paper:

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Passively Adaptable Wall Climbing Robot in Narrow Space

Anna Ariga, Tomoyuki Yamaguchi, and Shuji Hashimoto

Department of Applied Physics, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan

Received:

April 20, 2011

Accepted:

August 8, 2011

Published:

December 20, 2011

Keywords:

wall-climbing robot, pantograph structure, spring mechanism, passive support

Abstract

This paper presents a novel wall climbing robot for a narrow space that is not accessible for humans, such as a sewer pipe and small gaps between buildings. The proposed robot consists of two driving parts and a pantograph between them that generates a pushing force against the walls to prevent the robot from falling down. Two different kinds of springs are installed on the pantograph in order to provide certain amount of the pushing force. The proposed mechanism can passively adapt to the changes in the interwall distance with a constant pushing force to achieve a smooth movement. The experimental results show that the proposed robot can work reliably and safely in different types of narrow spaces between walls.

Cite this article as:

Anna Ariga, Tomoyuki Yamaguchi, and Shuji Hashimoto, “Passively Adaptable Wall Climbing Robot in Narrow Space,” J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.23, No.6, pp. 1055-1065, 2011.

Data files:

References

[1] K. Yoneda, Y. Ota, T. Kuga, K. Hirano, and S. Hirose, “Design of a Wall Climbing Quadruped with Reduced Degrees of Freedom,” J. of Design Engineering, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 51-56, 2009.
[2] H. Kim, D. Kim, H. Yang, K. Lee, K. Seo, D. Chang, and J. Kim, “A wall climbing robot with vacuum caterpillar wheel system operated by mechanical valve,” Proc. of the 9th Int. Conf. on Climbing and Walking Robots, pp. 28-33, 2006.
[3] R. Yue, J. Xiao, S. Wang, and S. L. Joseph, “Modeling and Path Planning of the City-Climber Robot Part I: Dynamic Modeling,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Biomimetics, pp. 2385-2398, 2009.
[4] R. L. Tummala, R. Mukherjee, N. Xi, D. Aslam, H. Dulimart, J. Xiao, M. Minor, and G. Dangi, “Climbing the walls,” IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, Vol.9, p. 4, 2002.
[5] Y. Fei, X. Zhao, and J.Wan, “Motion Analysis of a Modular Inspection Robot with Magnetic Wheels,” Proc. of the 6thWorld Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation, pp. 8187-8190, 2006.
[6] H. Prahlad, R. Pelrine, S. Stanford, J. Marlow, and R. Kornbluh, “Electroadhesive robots-wall climbing robots enabled by a novel, robust, and electrically controllable adhesion technology,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 3028-3033, 2008.
[7] A. Yamamoto, T. Nakashima, and T. Higuchi, “Wall Climbing Mechanisms Using Electrostatic Attraction Generated by Flecible Electrodes,” Proc. of Int. Symp. on Micro-NanoMechatronics and Human Science, pp. 389-394, 2007.
[8] M. Suzuki, S. Kitai, and S. Hirose, “Advanced Child Unit of “Anchor Climber” Using Modified Internally-balanced Magnet,” Proc. of IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 1489-1494, 2008.
[9] S. Kim, A. T. Asbeck, M. R. Cutkosky, and W. R. Provancher, “SpinybotII: climbing hard walls with compliant microspines,” Proc. of Int. Conf. on Advanced Robotics, pp. 601-696, 2005.
[10] B. Aksak, M. P. Murphy, and M. Sitti “Gecko Inspired Micro-Fibrillar Adhesives for Wall Climbing Robots on Micro/Nanoscale Rough Surfaces,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 3058-3063, 2008.
[11] P. Li, S. Ma, B. Li, and T. Wang, “Development of an adaptive mobile robot for in-pipe inspection task,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Mechatronics and Automation, pp. 3622-3627, 2007.
[12] S. Roh and H. R. Choi, “Differential-drive in-pipe robot for moving inside urban gas pipelines,” IEEE Trans. on Robotics, Vol.21, pp. 1-17, 2005.
[13] M. Horodinca, I. Dorftei, E. Mignon, and A. Preumont, “A simple architecture for in-pipe inspection robots,” Proc. of Int. Colloquium on Mobile and Autonomous Systems, pp. 61-64, 2002.
[14] J. Park, T. Kim, and H. Yang, “Development of an actively adaptable in-pipe robot,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. onMechatronics, pp. 1-5, 2009.
[15] A. Ariga, T. Kobayashi, T. Yamaguchi, and S. Hashimoto, “Wall Climbing Robot in Narrow Space with Pantograph-type Structure,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Biomimetics, pp. 1507-1512, 2010.

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

[1] [1] K. Yoneda, Y. Ota, T. Kuga, K. Hirano, and S. Hirose, “Design of a Wall Climbing Quadruped with Reduced Degrees of Freedom,” J. of Design Engineering, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 51-56, 2009.

[2] [2] H. Kim, D. Kim, H. Yang, K. Lee, K. Seo, D. Chang, and J. Kim, “A wall climbing robot with vacuum caterpillar wheel system operated by mechanical valve,” Proc. of the 9th Int. Conf. on Climbing and Walking Robots, pp. 28-33, 2006.

[3] [3] R. Yue, J. Xiao, S. Wang, and S. L. Joseph, “Modeling and Path Planning of the City-Climber Robot Part I: Dynamic Modeling,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Biomimetics, pp. 2385-2398, 2009.

[4] [4] R. L. Tummala, R. Mukherjee, N. Xi, D. Aslam, H. Dulimart, J. Xiao, M. Minor, and G. Dangi, “Climbing the walls,” IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, Vol.9, p. 4, 2002.

[5] [5] Y. Fei, X. Zhao, and J.Wan, “Motion Analysis of a Modular Inspection Robot with Magnetic Wheels,” Proc. of the 6thWorld Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation, pp. 8187-8190, 2006.

[6] [6] H. Prahlad, R. Pelrine, S. Stanford, J. Marlow, and R. Kornbluh, “Electroadhesive robots-wall climbing robots enabled by a novel, robust, and electrically controllable adhesion technology,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 3028-3033, 2008.

[7] [7] A. Yamamoto, T. Nakashima, and T. Higuchi, “Wall Climbing Mechanisms Using Electrostatic Attraction Generated by Flecible Electrodes,” Proc. of Int. Symp. on Micro-NanoMechatronics and Human Science, pp. 389-394, 2007.

[8] [8] M. Suzuki, S. Kitai, and S. Hirose, “Advanced Child Unit of “Anchor Climber” Using Modified Internally-balanced Magnet,” Proc. of IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 1489-1494, 2008.

[9] [9] S. Kim, A. T. Asbeck, M. R. Cutkosky, and W. R. Provancher, “SpinybotII: climbing hard walls with compliant microspines,” Proc. of Int. Conf. on Advanced Robotics, pp. 601-696, 2005.

[10] [10] B. Aksak, M. P. Murphy, and M. Sitti “Gecko Inspired Micro-Fibrillar Adhesives for Wall Climbing Robots on Micro/Nanoscale Rough Surfaces,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 3058-3063, 2008.

[11] [11] P. Li, S. Ma, B. Li, and T. Wang, “Development of an adaptive mobile robot for in-pipe inspection task,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Mechatronics and Automation, pp. 3622-3627, 2007.

[12] [12] S. Roh and H. R. Choi, “Differential-drive in-pipe robot for moving inside urban gas pipelines,” IEEE Trans. on Robotics, Vol.21, pp. 1-17, 2005.

[13] [13] M. Horodinca, I. Dorftei, E. Mignon, and A. Preumont, “A simple architecture for in-pipe inspection robots,” Proc. of Int. Colloquium on Mobile and Autonomous Systems, pp. 61-64, 2002.

[14] [14] J. Park, T. Kim, and H. Yang, “Development of an actively adaptable in-pipe robot,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. onMechatronics, pp. 1-5, 2009.

[15] [15] A. Ariga, T. Kobayashi, T. Yamaguchi, and S. Hashimoto, “Wall Climbing Robot in Narrow Space with Pantograph-type Structure,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Biomimetics, pp. 1507-1512, 2010.