A Study on Wall Surface Mobile Robots. 2nd Report, Mechanism of Model with Variable Structural Crawler and Running Experimental Results.

Abstract

This paper presents a new concept of the wall surface mobile robot which is designed with the aim of moving over complicated wall surfaces using a variable structural crawler. The variable structural crawler is made of rubber and can easily deform its configuration. The joint frame consists of pieces of blocks connected serially which support the variable structural crawler. The crawler belt has 25 suckers on its surface. A simply designed mechanical valve is set at each sucker which opens only when it touches the surface. The sucker whose valve is open clings to the surface, and this allows the robot to cling to the surface. There are three actuators in the body. One is used for rotation of the robot's head up and down. Another is used for rotation of the robot's head right and left. The last is used to move the robot forward. We named this robot "MARK II". MARK II runs over a curved surface, changes its direction, transfers from one wall to another wall, and passes over a small obstacle. We investigated the influence of surface roughness and curvature radius on the running capability, especially on a curved surface. We show the mechanism and the experimental results.