Gel-type sticky mobile inspector to traverse on the rugged wall and ceiling

Abstract

An epoch-making handy sized sticky mobile robot has been developed, aiming to search and rescue survivors inside the half collapsed buildings caused by big earthquakes. After the robot is tossed through small spaces, it moves around the rugged or bumpy wall and ceiling to overlook the floor by the installed camera. To generate large enough adhesive force even on the rugged wall, a gel mat made of urethane is introduced, whose force can be recovered by the washing function. Developed sticky robot based on the above method could realize the 3D mobile performance on the rugged wall and ceiling with the function of washing of the gel mat and monitoring the scene of the inside of the building. The validity of the application to the rescue inspector is also verified.