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Development and applications of wall-climbing robots with a single suction cup

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2004

Yanzheng Zhao
Affiliation:
Research Institute of Robotics, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030 (P.R. of China).
Zhuang Fu
Affiliation:
Research Institute of Robotics, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030 (P.R. of China).
Qixin Cao
Affiliation:
Research Institute of Robotics, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030 (P.R. of China).
Yan Wang
Affiliation:
Robot Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, 92 Dazhi Street, Harbin 150001 (P.R. of China).

Abstract

In this paper, wall-climbing robots with a single suction cup are studied. The robots mainly consist of three parts: A vacuum pump, a sealing mechanism and a driving mechanism. Basic conditions that the robots can adhere to and move reliably on a vertical surface are first established, then the sealing mechanism with an air spring and regulating springs is analyzed, and the synthetic rigidity formula for the sealing loop is obtained. Finally, two application examples are given: One for the ultrasonic inspection of cylindrical stainless steel nuclear storage tanks, and the other for cleaning high-rise buildings.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Project supported by the High Technology and Development Programme of China.