InchwormClimber:

A light-weight biped climbing robot with a switchable magnet adhesion unit.
People involved:
  • José Carlos Romao
  • Mahmoud Tavakoli
  • Carlos Viegas
  • Pedro Neto
  • Aníbal T de Almeida
This article presents an inchworm climbing robot that is designed with switchable magnets and a single DOF arm. The InchwormClimber works on ferromagnetic structures and consumes little energy when climbing and can descend safely with almost zero energy consumption. Furthermore, considering the critical role of the adhesion unit in the overall functionality of the robot (weight, climbing speed and the payload), we optimized the switchable magnet unit for a higher adhesion force per mass unit.

InchwormClimber: a- Adhesion Unit with actuator, b- transverse bar, c- climbing mechanism actuator, d- pulley and belt.

InchwormClimber locomotion (red indicates the adhesion units magnet is on, providing maximum adhesion force, while green means its off): 1- Beginning of step, the robot is at minimum extension, 2- the climbing mechanism actuator drives the links in order to depart from each other, 3- the robot reaches its maximum extension, the adhesion units change their status in turn 4- the climbing mechanism actuator turns in an opposite direction and the links approach each other, 5- the robot is again at minimum extension.

Adhesion unit: a- AX-12 actuator, b- switchable magnet, cpermanent magnet, d- bearing.

For more information please read this article:
InchwormClimber: A light-weight biped climbing robot with a switchable magnet adhesion unit.

J. C. Romão, M. Tavakoli, C. Viegas, P. Neto and A. T. de Almeida, “InchwormClimber: A light-weight biped climbing robot with a switchable magnet adhesion unit,” 2015 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Hamburg, 2015, pp. 3320-3325.
doi: 10.1109/IROS.2015.7353839

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