Vortex Actuation via Electric Ducted Fans: an Experimental Study

Abstract

The presented work investigates the potential of utilizing commercially available Electric Ducted Fans (EDFs) as adhesion actuators, while providing a novel insight on the analysis of the adhesion nature related to negative pressure and thrust force generation against a target surface. To this goal, a novel EDF-based Vortex Actuation Setup (VAS) is proposed for monitoring important properties such as adhesion force, pressure distribution, current draw, motor temperature etc. during the VAS’ operation when placed in variable distances from a test surface. In addition, this work is contributing towards the novel evaluation of different design variables and modifications to original EDF structures, with the goal of analyzing their effect on the prototype VAS, while optimizing its adhesion efficiency for its future incorporation in a wall-climbing robot for inspection and repair purposes.