Design and motion control analysis of double helix wall climbing robot

Abstract

For the detection environment of complex walls such as high-rise buildings, a double helix wall climbing robot (DHWCR) with strong adsorption force and good stability is designed and developed, which uses symmetrical propellers to provide adsorption force. The symmetrical driving structure can provide smooth thrust for the DHWCR, so that the robot can be absorbed to the wall surface with different roughness. A left and right control frame with multiple degrees of freedom is designed, which can adjust the fixed position of the brushless propeller motor in the front and back directions, realize the continuous adjustable thrust direction of the robot, and improve the flexibility of the robot movement. Using the front wheel steering mechanism with universal joint, the steering control of the DHWCR is realized by differential control. In the vertical to ground transition, the front and rear brushless motors can provide the pull up and oblique thrust, so that the DHWCR can smoothly transition to the vertical wall. The motion performance and adaptability of the DHWCR in the horizontal ground and vertical wall environment are tested. The results show that the DHWCR can switch motion between the horizontal ground and vertical wall, and can stably adsorb on the vertical wall with flexible attitude control. The DHWCR can move at a fast speed. The speed on the horizontal ground is higher than that on the vertical wall, which verifies the feasibility and reliability of the DHWCR moving stably on the vertical wall.