Climbing Robot Technology Research Based On Biomimetic Gecko Morphology Evolution

Climbing robots are special robots which can replace humans in jobs on high verticalsurfaces of natural or artificial buildings. This automated equipment can replace workers tooperate at high altitude walls. The epuipment not only improves work efficiency andreduces cost but also improves the working environment of workers. It is used widely andeffectively in many industrial occasions such as inspection of the store tank of nuclearwaste and oil, cleaning high building surfaces and rescuing in emergency situations. Theclimbing robot has developed many technological means such as adhesion methods andmovement methods to adapt to the diverse walls such as conical wall surfaces andcylindrical walls with a small radius. Because of the wide application prospects and thetechnical challenge, climbing robots become one of the research hotspots in roboticstechnology.Wind power tower is the critical component in the wind power equipment. It is laidbare all throughout the year, so regular inspection and maintenance are needed. Wind powertower is a conical wall surface and the wall section on the axle is different. The smallestdiameter of the wall is2m. When the roobt works on such small wall, there will be a greatgap between the wall surface and the robot. The gap greatly influences the adhensionperformance of the climbing robot. For inspecting and maintaining the wind power tower, arobot which not only has the features of gecko’s morphology and functions but also canwork on the conical wall steadily and reliably is presented in the paper..The gecko’s morphological characteristics are researched and the morphologicalmodel of its posterior limb is established in this paper. The functions and the features of itsposterior limb are analyzed and the relationship between the motion of its posterior limband its body is also presented. The dynamics of the gecko is discussed too. Based on theobservation and the analysis of the gecko, a design method which imitates the morphologicfunctions of gecko’s limbs is presented in this paper. The robot designed by the method isshowed. Inspired by the gecko’s head, the robot has ultrasound probe, vision sensors andthe corresponding motion mechanical device. It has redundant tracks which is inspired bygecko’s legs, multi-magnetic circuit adsorption units which is inspired by gecko’s toes andanti-overturn system inspired by gecko’s tail. According to the robot with gecko’smorphological features, a modified climbing robot with has the features of the gecko’s flexible body is presented.The conditions of the robot which can closely and steadily adhere to the wall surfaceare analyzed in detail, and the motion of the robot working on the small conical wallsurface is also discussed. The kinematical and dynamical models of the robot working onthe small conical wall surface in any direction are established respectively, and itsconstraint and motion situation are analyzed in detail. At the same time, the magneticadhension units of the robot are researched and their models are established in this paper.The magnetic circuit of the adhension units is researched and the optimized design methodis presented. The adhension units should make most of their magnetic circuit flows throughthe wall surface to attain the biggest magnetic force with the least magnets. Four kinds ofmagnetic units are showed, and their comprehensive performances are compared. Theiradvantages and disadvantages and the wall surfaces which they can adapt to are discussedin detail respectively. The theoretic calculation method of the magnetic adsorption forceand the design criteria of the adhension units are presented. The adhension performance ofthe adhension unit and the performances of the robots are tested by experimients andsimulations.