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Design and experiment of transmission tower climbing robot inspired by inchworm

Shufeng Tang (School of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology – Xincheng District Campus, Hohhot, China and Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Special Service Intelligent Robotics, Hohhot, China)
Yongsheng Kou (School of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology – Xincheng District Campus, Hohhot, China and Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Special Service Intelligent Robotics, Hohhot, China)
Guoqing Zhao (School of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology – Xincheng District Campus, Hohhot, China and Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Special Service Intelligent Robotics, Hohhot, China)
Huijie Zhang (School of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology – Xincheng District Campus, Hohhot, China and Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Special Service Intelligent Robotics, Hohhot, China)
Hong Chang (School of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology – Xincheng District Campus, Hohhot, China and Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Special Service Intelligent Robotics, Hohhot, China)
Xuewei Zhang (School of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology – Xincheng District Campus, Hohhot, China and Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Special Service Intelligent Robotics, Hohhot, China)
Yunhe Zou (School of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology – Xincheng District Campus, Hohhot, China and Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Special Service Intelligent Robotics, Hohhot, China)

Industrial Robot

ISSN: 0143-991x

Article publication date: 20 March 2024

49

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design a climbing robot connected by a connecting rod mechanism to achieve multi-functional tasks such as obstacles crossing and climbing of power transmission towers.

Design/methodology/approach

A connecting rod type gripper has been designed to achieve stable grasping of angle steel. Before grasping, use coordination between structures to achieve stable docking and grasping. By using the alternating movements of two claws and the middle climbing mechanism, the climbing and obstacle crossing of the angle steel were achieved.

Findings

Through a simple linkage mechanism, a climbing robot has been designed, greatly reducing the overall mass of the robot. It can also carry a load of 1 kg, and the climbing mechanism can perform stable climbing. The maximum step distance of the climbing robot is 543 mm, which can achieve the crossing of angle steel obstacles.

Originality/value

A transmission tower climbing mechanism was proposed by analyzing the working environment. Through the locking ability of the screw nut, stable clamping of the angle steel is achieved, and a pitch mechanism is designed to adjust the posture of the hand claw.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61763036), the Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia (Grant No. 2021MS05005), the Key Technology Research Program of Inner Mongolia (Grant No. 2021GG0258), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFB1307501), Key research projects of military-civilian integration of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Grant Nos. JMZD202203.), the Program for Innovative Research Team in Universities of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Grant No. NMGIRT2213). This support is gratefully acknowledged by the authors.

Citation

Tang, S., Kou, Y., Zhao, G., Zhang, H., Chang, H., Zhang, X. and Zou, Y. (2024), "Design and experiment of transmission tower climbing robot inspired by inchworm", Industrial Robot, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-11-2023-0277

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

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