Development of a Tracked Climbing Robot

This paper describes a climbing robot, using chain-track as the locomotive mechanism and suction cups as the adhesion method. The main structure, sensors, and the vision-based motion control system of the robot are described in the paper. The robot can turn in a limited range by adjusting the steering wheel and twisting the chain. The turning gait is discussed and relations between turning angles of the chain node, the front wheel, and the frame of the robot are formulated. Forces applied to the robot are analyzed in order to obtain a safety condition that prevents the robot from slipping and falling. An experiment is conducted to measure the safety factor of suction cups and determine the payload capacity of the robot.