OmniClimber: An omnidirectional light weight climbing robot with flexibility to adapt to non-flat surfaces

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel climbing robot with high maneuverability for inspection of ferromagnetic 3D human made structures. The robot takes advantage of novelties which allows an excellent maneuverability on the structure and can adapt to flat and non-flat structures. In this paper we present the conceptual and detailed design of the robot, the implementation and two tests: laboratory tests on a flat surface; and a set of field tests performed on a wind turbine foundation to prove the applicability of the robot on both structures.