Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-9knnw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-16T13:10:36.131Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A climbing robot with paired claws inspired by gecko locomotion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2022

Qingfei Han ,
Aihong Ji Open the ORCID record for Aihong Ji [Opens in a new window] ,
Nan Jiang ,
Jie Hu  and
Stanislav N. Gorb
Qingfei Han
Affiliation:
Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China
Aihong Ji*
Affiliation:
Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China
Nan Jiang
Affiliation:
Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China
Jie Hu
Affiliation:
Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China
Stanislav N. Gorb
Affiliation:
Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: meeahji@nuaa.edu.cn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Climbing robots that use bionic claws can climb vertical or even inverted rough surfaces. However, wall-climbing robots with unidirectional spiny feet cannot crawl horizontally or downward on vertical rough surfaces. In this paper, a pair of gripping spiny feet is used to give a robot the capacity to crawl in any direction on a rough wall. On the basis of observations of the gecko’s method for grasping onto a vertical rough surface, a multilevel interlocking structure is proposed. A spherical contact model of the claw tip on a vertical rough surface is established, and the influences of the contact angle, friction coefficient, and other factors on the grappling claw action are analyzed. Moreover, the optimal structure of the grappling claws is proposed. The force during the grasping and detachment of the mechanism and the influence of the number of feet on grasping performance are determined through experiments. Furthermore, a six-legged wall-climbing robot is designed and evaluated in terms of crawling on a vertical rough surface at various angles. The feasibility of using an opposed gripping mechanism to allow a robot to crawl in any direction on a vertical rough surface is also verified.

Keywords

opposed gripping modelspherical contact modelhexapod climbing robotcrawling

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Robotica , Volume 40 , Issue 10 , October 2022 , pp. 3686 - 3698
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Rosa, G. L., Messina, M., Muscato, G. and Sinatra, R., “A low-cost lightweight climbing robot for the inspection of vertical surfaces,” Mechatronics 12(1), 71–96 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhu, J., Sun, D. and Tso, S. K., “Development of a tracked climbing robot,” J. Intell. Robot. Syst. 35(4), 427–443 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, H., Kim, D., Yang, H., Lee, K., Seo, K., Chang, D. and Kim, J., “Development of a wall-climbing robot using a tracked wheel mechanism,” J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 22(8), 1490–1498 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balaguer, C., Gimenez, A., Pastor, J. M., Padron, V. M. and Abderrahim, M., “A climbing autonomous robot for inspection applications in 3D complex environments,” Robotica 18(3), 287–297 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shen, W., Gu, J. and Shen, Y., “Proposed Wall Climbing Robot with Permanent Magnetic Tracks for Inspecting Oil Tank,” In: IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (2005) pp. 2072–2077.Google Scholar
Henrey, M., Ahmed, A., Boscariol, P., Shannon, L. and Menon, C., “Abigaille-III: A versatile, bioinspired hexapod for scaling smooth vertical surfaces,” J. Bionic Eng. 11(1), 1–17 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peyvandi, A., Soroushian, P. and Lu, J., “A new self-loading locomotion mechanism for wall climbing robots employing biomimetic adhesives,” J. Bionic Eng. 10(1), 12–18 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dan, S., Li, Y. and Menon, C., “Multi-scale compliant foot designs and fabrication for use with a spider-inspired climbing robot,” J. Bionic Eng. 5(3), 189–196 (2008).Google Scholar
Ji, A. H., Han, L. B. and Dai, Z. D., “Adhesive contact in animal: Morphology, mechanism and bio-inspired application,” J. Bionic Eng. 8(4), 345–356 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, S., Asbeck, A. T., Cutkosky, M. R. and Provancher, W. R., “SpinybotII: Climbing Hard Wall Swith Compliant Microspines,” In: IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics (2005) pp. 601–606.Google Scholar
Asbeck, A. T., Kim, S., Mcclung, A., Parness, A. and Cutkosky, M., “Climbing Walls with Microspines,” In: IEEE ICRA (2006) pp. 4315–4317.Google Scholar
Asbeck, A. T., Kim, S., Cutkosky, M. R., Provancher, W. R. and Lanzetta, M., “Scaling hard vertical surfaces with compliant microspine arrays,” Int. J. Robot. Res. 25(12), 1165–1179 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Autumn, K., Buehler, M., Cutkosky, M., Fearing, R., Full, R. J., Goldman, D., Groff, R., Provancher, W., Rizzi, A. A., Saranli, U., Saunders, A., Koditschek, D. E., “Robotics in Scansorial Environments,” In: Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 5804 (2005) pp. 291–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saunders, A., Goldman, D. I., Full, R. J. and Buehler, M., “The RiSE Climbing Robot: Body and Leg Design,” In: Proceedings of SPIE vol. 623017, (2006) pp. 1–13.Google Scholar
Haynes, G. C., Khripin, A., Lynch, G., Amory, J. and Koditschek, D. E., “Rapid Pole Climbing with a Quadrupedal Robot,” In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, (2009) pp. 2767–2772.Google Scholar
Ji, A. H., Zhao, Z. H., Manoonpong, P., Wang, W., Chen, G. M. and Dai, Z. D., “A bio-inspired climbing robot with flexible pads and claws,” J. Bionic Eng. 15(2), 196–207 (2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daltorio, K. A., Wei, T., Gorb, S. N., Ritzmann, R. and Quinn, R., “Passive Foot Design and Contact Area Analysis for Climbing Mini-Whegs,” In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, (2007), pp. 1274–1279.Google Scholar
Daltorio, K. A., Wei, T. E., Horchler, A. D., LSouthard, G. D. W., Quinn, R. D., Gorb, S. and Ritzmann, R. E., “Mini-Whegs TM climbs steep surfaces using insect-inspired attachment mechanisms,” Int. J. Robot. Res. 28(2), 285–302 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Y. W., Liu, S. W., Wang, L. M., Wu, X., Li, Y. and Mei, T., “A Novel Tracked Wall-Climbing Robot with Bio-Inspired Spine Feet,” In: IEEE Int. Conf. Robot. Autom 11741, 84–96 (2019).Google Scholar
Xie, C., Wu, X. and Wang, X. J., “A three-row opposed gripping mechanism with bioinspired spiny toes for wall-climbing robots,” J. Bionic Eng. 16(6), 994–1006 (2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parness, A., Willig, A., Berg, A., Shekels, M. and Shekels, M., “A Microspine Tool: Grabbing and Anchoring to Boulders on the Asteroid Redirect Mission,” In: Aerospace Conference, (2017) pp. 1–10.Google Scholar
Parness, A., Frost, M., Thatte, N., King, J. P., Witkoe, K., Nevarez, M., Garrett, M., Aghazarian, H. and Kennedy, B., “Gravity-independent rock-climbing robot and a sample acquisition tool with microspine grippers,” J. Field. Robot. 30(6), 897–915 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parness, A., “Anchoring Foot Mechanisms for Sampling and Mobility in Microgravity,” In: International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 6596–6599 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bußhardt, P., Kunze, D. and Gorb, S. N., “Interlocking-based attachment during locomotion in the beetle Pachnoda marginata (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae),” Sci. Rep. 4(6998), 1–8 (2014).Google Scholar
Wang, Z. Y., Yi, S. and Dai, Z. D., “Use of opposite frictional forces by animals to increase their attachment reliability during movement,” Friction 1(2), 143–149 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Z. Y., Gu, W. H., Wu, Q., Ji, A. H. and Dai, Z. D., “Morphology and reaction force of toes of geckos freely moving on ceilings and walls,” Sci. China Tech. Sci 53(6), 1688–1693 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Song, Y., Dai, Z. D., Ji, A. H. and Gorb, S. N., “The synergy between the insect-inspired claws and adhesive pads increases the attachment ability on various rough surfaces,” Sci. Rep. 6(26219), 1–9 (2016).Google ScholarPubMed
Dai, Z. D., Gorb, S. N. and Schwarz, U., “Roughness-dependent friction force of the tarsal claw system in the beetle Pachnoda marginata (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae),” J. Exp. Biol. 205(16), 2479–2488 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar