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A Track-type Inverted Climbing Robot with Bio-inspired Spiny Grippers

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Abstract

To enable the capacity of climbing robots to work on steep surfaces, especially on inverted surfaces, is a fundamental but challenging task. This capacity can extend the reachable workspace and applications of climbing robots. A track-type inverted climbing robot called SpinyCrawler was developed in this paper. Using a spiny track with an opposed gripping mechanism, the robot was experimentally demonstrated to have the ability of generating considerable adhesion to achieve stable inverted climbing. First, to guarantee reliable attachment of the robot on rough ceilings, a spiny gripper inspired by the opposed gripping prolegs of caterpillars is designed, and a gripping model of the interaction between spines and the ceiling asperities is established and analyzed. Second, a spiny track is developed by assembling dozens of spiny grippers to enable continuous attachment. A cam mechanism is introduced in the robot design without extra actuators to achieve stable attachment and easy detachment during continuous climbing. Finally, climbing experiments are conducted on different surfaces, using a SpinyCrawler prototype. Experimental results demonstrated stable climbing ability on various rough inverted and vertical surfaces, including concrete walls, crushed stone walls, sandpaper walls, brick walls, and brick ceilings.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51805431), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2018M643695), and the Suzhou Science and Technology Foundation (Grant No. SYG201813).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Precision Instrument Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an, 710048, China

    Yanwei Liu, Limeng Wang, Pengyang Li & Yan Li

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, 215009, China

    Fuzhou Niu

  3. Robotics Research Center, Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Tao Mei

Authors
  1. Yanwei Liu
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  2. Limeng Wang
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  3. Fuzhou Niu
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  4. Pengyang Li
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  5. Yan Li
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  6. Tao Mei
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Correspondence to Yanwei Liu or Fuzhou Niu.

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Liu, Y., Wang, L., Niu, F. et al. A Track-type Inverted Climbing Robot with Bio-inspired Spiny Grippers. J Bionic Eng 17, 920–931 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-020-0093-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-020-0093-5

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