Development of a Stair Climbing Robot for Operation in Nuclear Power Plants

Abstract

In 2011, a nuclear disaster occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant due to a large earthquake and tsunami. As a result, surveillance and decontamination work using robots are required inside these highly radioactive buildings. However, because there are multiple floors in these buildings, the robots need to be able to climb stairs and traverse debris. In this research, we design and develop a Mecanum trilobe wheel robot with both omni-directional movement and stair-climbing capabilities to navigate across obstacles and rough terrain. The trilobed wheels allow for a gait-like movement to climb stairs and large obstacles, while the Mecanum wheels allow for omni-directional movement. Furthermore, the staggered arrangement of the Mecanum wheels allows the robot to climb over obstacles while moving sideways, which is effective in small spaces where the robot is unable to turn.