The obstacle-climbing capability of a pole-climbing robot

Abstract

A trilateral clamping-wheeled, rod-climbing robot is designed to detect internal steel wire fractures in the cylindrical cable of cable-stayed or suspension bridges. In line with this objective, this study also introduces the climbing principle and ontology structure of this robot (Model-1) and analyzes the static dynamic characteristics of this mechanism. This study also analyzes the obstacle-negotiation capability of the robot. Furthermore, the Model-1 structure was updated to a new climbing mechanism (Model-2) based on analysis results. Then, the optimal angles of the upper and lower supporting arms were obtained by building the static model of the new mechanism. Finally, several simulation experiments were carried out, which demonstrate that Model-2 is superior to Model-1 in terms of obstacle-negotiation capability and satisfies the requirements for suspended cable detection.