Design and development of a tethered mobile robot to traverse on steep slope based on an analysis of its slippage and turnover

Abstract

Observations of fumaroles are important in forecasting volcanic eruptions. However, such observations are dangerous for humans because of volcanic gases and high-temperature steam that surround fumaroles. In previous study, a teleoperated mobile robot was developed to realize remote observations. However, it was observed that typical mobile robots were unable to reach fumaroles on a steep cliff. Therefore, extant research focused on the development of tethered small mobile robots to tackle thsese types of challenging cliffs to observe fumaroles. This study proposes a design of a tethered mobile robot to traverse a steep slope based on the analysis of slip and turnover. A few indoor experimental studies and field experiment were performed to verify the proposed design.