Adsorption Performance of Sliding Wall-Climbing Robot

Sliding wall-climbing robot （SWCR） is applied worldwide for its continuous motion, however, considerable air leakage causes two problems： great power consumption and big noise, and they constraint the robot＇s comprehensive performance. So far, effective theoretical model is still lacked to solve the problems. The concept of SWCR＇s adsorption performance is presented, and the techniques of improving utilization rate of given adsorption force and utilization rate of power are studied respectively to improve SWCR＇s adsorption performance. The effect of locomotion mechanism selection and seal＇s pressure allocation upon utilization rate of given adsorption force is discussed, and the theoretical way for relevant parameters optimization are provided. The directions for improving utilization rate of power are pointed out based on the detail analysis results of suction system＇s thermodynamics and hydrodynamics. On this condition, a design method for SWCR-specific impeller is presented, which shows how the impeller＇s key parameters impact its aerodynamic performance with the aid of computational fluid dynamics （CFD） simulations. The robot prototype, BIT Climber, is developed, and its functions such as mobility, adaptability on wall surface, payload, obstacle ability and wall surface inspection are tested. Through the experiments for the adhesion performance of the robot adsorption system on the normal wall surface, at the impeller＇s rated rotating speed, the total adsorption force can reach 237.2 N, the average effective negative pressure is 3.02 kPa and the design error is 3.8% only, which indicates a high efficiency. Furthermore, it is found that the robot suction system＇s static pressure efficiency reaches 84% and utilization rate of adsorption force 81% by the experiment. This thermodynamics model and SWCR-specific impeller design method can effectively improve SWCR＇s adsorption performance and expand this robot applicability on the various walls. A sliding wall-climbing robot with high adhesion efficiency is developed, and this robot has the features of light body in weight, small size in structure and good capability in payload.

Development and control of flexible pneumatic wall-climbing robot

A new kind of flexible pneumatic wall-climbing robot,named WALKMAN-I,was proposed. WALKMAN-I is basically composed of a flexible pneumatic actuator (FPA),a flexible pneumatic spherical joint and six suction cups. It has many characteristics of low-cost,lightweight,simple structure and good flexibility. Its operating principle was introduced. Then three basic locomotion modes,which are linear motion,curvilinear motion and crossing the orthogonal planes,were presented. The safety conditions of WALKMAN-I were discussed and built. Finally,the control system was designed and experiments were carried out. Experimental results show that WALKMAN-I is able to climb on the vertical wall surface along a straight line or a curved path,and has the ability of crossing orthogonal planes and obstacles. The maximum rotation angle reaches 90°,the maximum velocity reaches 5 mm/s,and the rotation angle and the moving velocity of WALKMAN-I can be easily controlled.

Research on Alternatively Moving Vacuum Absorbing Wall-climbing Robot

In conection with the complex working-surroundings of the wall-climbing Robot, this paper researched akind of alternatively moving mechanism with good obstacle-surmounting ability and high moving speed, making use ofthe thought of bionics. This paper designed a kind of self-adjusting multi-vacuum sucker. Furthermore, it employedthe theory of vacuum system to establish the work mathematics madel of control switch to are sucking disc and presented the design parameter of the control switch. In addition, this paper made use of the thought of bionics to design aobstacle-surmounting mechanism used in wall-climbing robot. Also it employed the theory Of robotics to analyze the kinematics and the dynamics movement of die robot.

Fault detection and identification based on combining logic and model in a wall-climbing robot

A combined logic- and model-based approach to fault detection and identification （FDI） in a suction foot control system of a wall-climbing robot is presented in this paper. For the control system, some fault models are derived by kinematics analysis. Moreover, the logic relations of the system states are known in advance. First, a fault tree is used to analyze the system by evaluating the basic events （elementary causes）, which can lead to a root event （a particular fault）. Then, a multiple-model adaptive estimation algorithm is used to detect and identify the model-known faults. Finally, based on the system states of the robot and the results of the estimation, the model-unknown faults are also identified using logical reasoning. Experiments show that the proposed approach based on the combination of logical reasoning and model estimating is efficient in the FDI of the robot.

High-performance wall-climbingrobot for inspection and maintenance

A wall-climbing robot that can continuously work on many types of wall surfaces has been developed. This robot based on low-vacuum adsorption principle consists of a locomotion mecha- nism, a sealing device, a fluid machine and a detecting system. The adsorption force is analyzed in details and its influencing factors are given. The robot prototype, which has the features of high ad- hesion efficiency, light body in weight, small size in structure and good capability in payload, is test- ed in outdoor and indoor environments. Through the experiments, the influences of the impeller slit and the seal clearance are discussed. In addition, the robot functions such as adsorption perform- ance, locomotion performance and wall adaptability are tested by experiments. The experiments have verified that the robot not only can climb on many types of wall surfaces, but also has outstand- ing locomotion ability and payload capacity.

On Transit Gait Programming of Six-legged Wall-climbing Robot

Transit gait programming is a key problem for a multi-legged robot to climb automatically from the ground up the wall, as well as between wall intersections. In this paper, a new idea is put forward by which the complex transit gait is decomposed into a sequence of two relatively simpler parts - single-leg motion and body pitching motion. An algorithm based on the above concept shows its feasibility and effectiveness in the graphic kinematics simulation.

Modeling and Experiments of Spray System for Cable Painting Robot

Many cable-stayed bridges have been built in the world in the past decades,and cable-stayed structures have been adopted in many large constructions.The cable painting robot is safe and economically efficient for stay cable maintenance.In order to satisfy the need for spraying cables in high attitude,an automatic cable spray system for cable painting robots is presented in this paper.Using the β distribution,paint thickness distribution on a cylinder surface is modeled.The spray gun's number,angle and movement are analyzed to get coat evenness.Then a robotic spray system engineering prototype has been developed,which includes a cable electric running climbing base,a spray cover,four airless spray guns and a pressurized paint container.Experiments indicate that four airless spray guns can guarantee good coat quality for general stay cables.The field tests have been successfully conducted on Nanpu Bridge,Shanghai.

Research on Gait Trajectory Planning of Wall-Climbing Robot Based on Improved PSO Algorithm

In order to reduce the labor intensity of high-altitude workers and realize the cleaning and maintenance of high-rise building exteriors,this paper proposes a design for a 4-DOF bipedal wall-climbing bionic robot inspired by the inchworm’s movement.The robot utilizes vacuum adsorption for vertical wall attachment and legged movement for locomotion.To enhance the robot’s movement efficiency and reduce wear on the adsorption device,a gait mimicking an inchworm’s movement is planned,and foot trajectory planning is performed using a quintic polynomial function.Under velocity constraints,foot trajectory optimization is achieved using an improved Particle Swarm Optimization(PSO)algorithm,determining the quintic polynomial function with the best fitness through simulation.Finally,through comparative experiments,the climbing time of the robot closely matches the simulation results,validating the trajectory planning method’s accuracy.

Highly adaptive triboelectric tactile sensor on the foot of autonomous wall-climbing robots for detecting the adhesion state and avoiding the hazard

Due to the excellent maneuverability and obstacle crossing of legged robots,it is possible for an autonomous legged wallclimbing robots to replace manual inspection of ship exterior panels.However,when the magnetic adsorption legged wallclimbing robot steps on the convex point or convex line of the wall,or even when the robot missteps,the robot is likely to detach from the ferromagnetic wall.Therefore,this paper proposes a tactile sensor for the legged magnetic adsorption wall-climbing robot to detect the magnetic adsorption state and improve the safety of the autonomous crawling of the robot.The tactile sensor mainly comprises a three-dimensional(3D)-printed shell,a tactile slider,and three isometric sensing units,with an optimized geometry.The experiment shows that the triboelectric tactile sensor can monitor the sliding depth of the tactile slider and control the light-emitting device(LED)signal light.In addition,in the demonstration experiment of detecting the adsorption state of the robot's foot,the triboelectric tactile sensor has strong adaptability to various ferromagnetic wall surfaces.Finally,this study establishes a robot gait control system to verify the feedback control ability of the triboelectric tactile sensor.The results show that the robot equipped with the triboelectric tactile sensor can recognize the dangerous area on the crawling wall and autonomously avoid the risk.Therefore,the proposed triboelectric tactile sensor has great potential in realizing the tactile sensing ability of robots and enhancing the safety and intelligent inspection of ultra-large vessels.

The Impact of Automation in Painting Furniture Parts

Technology and Woodwork industries have been going through a phase of perfection over a period of hundred years, up until today, the wood work traditions are still exist and improving with the help of modern technology. Looking at history and current studies with regards to production of furniture, many factories are producing millions of chairs for entire continents and to maintain the market lead position requires a lot of human dedication and intelligent investments in technology. Using automation in painting means to automatically control the process including industrial machines like robots, conveyors and others which save time, money and also reduce human efforts. Most automation companies are specialized in industrial automation, industrial robots, communications, electronics, and software for developing complex projects to automate desirable task by integrating robots. This study is purposefully conducted to shed more light on the benefits or impacts of automation in painting furniture parts. One of the benefits that most of companies gain from automating the painting process with robots is the productivity growth. The recruitment process for specialized personnel in the painting processes has also been greatly simplified due to the fact that the robots have taken over the difficult’ tasks and protection from areas with high risk inhalation of harmful substances is assured. In this research, Automation is shown to be efficient and effective in the painting system by reviewing different studies. Automated dyeing processes in factories have made progress due to the successful results achieved by automated painting robots. In that regard, the impact of automation in painting furniture parts is evident in the production of fitments that are in almost every home through the solutions offered by automation to the consumer.

船用环保型爬壁喷漆机器人的设计及应用

为提升船舶外板的喷涂作业效率,解决喷涂过程中因漆雾和挥发性有机化合物(VOCs)的产生而造成环境污染的问题,设计一种自带VOCs和漆雾回收模块的爬壁式喷漆机器人。介绍该爬壁式喷漆机器人的结构和工作原理并对其进行受力分析,防止机器人作业过程中发生打滑和倾覆的失效形式,同时采用Maxwell软件针对永磁体与工作壁面之间的间隙大小对吸附力的影响进行仿真分析。通过Adams虚拟样机仿真软件分析并制作该型机器人样机,开展验证试验。结果表明,该爬壁式喷漆机器人能以稳定姿态在船舶外板上喷漆作业,具有VOCs和漆雾回收功能。

数字国画产品设计在采摘机器人动作仿真中的应用

首先,介绍了数字国画的产品设计,并将其应用在采摘机器人动作仿真中;然后,分析了采摘机器人机械臂运动学和动力学模型,对机械臂的驱动控制进行了深入研究;最后,基于Matlab对采摘机器人动作“掰”进行了仿真分析。结果表明:随着姿态角β或γ的增大,苹果与果枝连接处产生的力矩都会发生变化;而使用动作“掰”采摘苹果时,改变姿态角γ更容易采摘到苹果。

大型球罐壁面除漆机器人设计与实验研究

为解决大型球罐压力容器表面三层高强度环氧漆打磨问题,设计了一款大型球罐壁面除漆机器人,并对其开展了实验研究。机器人主要包括爬壁吸附系统和自适应打磨系统。通过对海尔贝克阵列永磁体研究,仿真分析履带结构永磁体吸附力与工作间隙的关系,研发了一款吸附稳定、越障性能优越的爬壁吸附系统;针对弧形壁面打磨情况,设计了一款基于电流反馈的自适应打磨系统,并分析金属丝打磨辊力学模型,研发多样金属丝打磨辊。对机器人进行测试,打磨效果良好,机器人可以对环氧漆打磨并露出金属光泽,且是人工打磨效率的3~10倍。该研究为球罐高强度环氧漆打磨提供了新打磨工具,保证了打磨质量,提高了打磨效率。

汽车涂装作业机器人关键技术探讨

涂装是汽车生产过程中的重要工艺,涂装作业机器人可以保证相对复杂生产环境中较高的喷涂效率以及良好控制精度。因此,简单分析了汽车涂装作业机器人特点,依托Matlab平台与CATIA可视化编程软件,构建了贴合实际的汽车涂装作业机器人控制环境。在汽车涂装作业机器人控制环境内,综合应用静态机器人与运动输送装置同步、多机器人协同等关键技术,对汽车涂装机器人控制系统进行了改进,并对改进后汽车涂装作业机器人功能进行试验测试,得出改进后机器人可以自动调节喷涂距离,确保喷涂膜厚度达到标准范围,表明改进后的喷涂机器人综合性能优良。

配电线路绝缘漆喷涂机器人作业位置跟踪仿真

应用在高架配电线路上的绝缘漆喷涂机器人在自然因素影响下,无法保持匀速作业,导致其位置跟踪难度较大。于是提出一种新的机器人作业位置跟踪方法。对采集的目标图像完成高斯滤波处理,最大程度强化目标图像细节信息。检测目标图像显著域,获取可能存在目标的感兴趣区域,同时在原图内提取对应特征,完成作业位置识别。引入Bouguet算法,校正目标图像。利用双目立体匹配的视差获取机器人作业位置,最终实现配电线路绝缘漆喷涂机器人作业位置的跟踪。仿真结果表明,研究方法能够准确跟踪机器人作业位置,目标位置的识别误差低于0.5cm,平均耗时为43.6s,有效提高了绝缘漆喷涂机器人作业效率。

基于改进Faster R-CNN的多种类车灯检测方法

自主喷涂机器人可以实现各种类型汽车车灯的自动化喷涂,而基于机器视觉的车灯检测算法是该机器人的关键技术。针对目前缺乏深度学习算法在喷涂环境中检测车灯的问题,提出一种基于改进Faster R-CNN的检测算法。改进的算法中用密集残差网络De-ResNet代替原有的特征提取网络,融合了多层次的特征信息,增加了网络深度,避免了网络梯度的消失。同时利用距离交并比DIoU对原算法中的损失函数进行了改进,引入了良好的距离度量,进一步提高了检测精度。实验结果表明,改进算法的平均准确率为98.56%,单幅图像的平均识别时间为0.45 s,能够实现对车灯类型的有效识别,满足实时处理的要求。

带回收装置的全自动智能化环保型喷漆机器人

介绍一种带漆雾与挥发性有机物(Volatile Organic Compounds,VOCs)回收装置的全自动智能化环保型喷漆机器人,适用于外板、甲板和货舱等船舶平面部位的喷漆作业。阐述该喷漆机器人的协同系统与总体技术框架和关键技术特征。技术实践表明,该喷漆机器人可有效解决传统人工喷漆方式存在的问题,为船厂的绿色发展提供重要的技术支持,具备良好的经济效益和社会效益。

机器人仿真在发动机涂装上的应用

传统发动机喷涂机器人调试往往需要大量的样机实验,投入成本高,调试周期长,喷涂质量稳定性差,虽然目前仿真技术在各行业已投入应用,但在国内发动机行业还无应用先例。项目组开展了仿真技术在发动机涂装上的可行性分析及研究,介绍机器人仿真技术在发动机涂装上工艺流程、判定方法及在某厂发动机涂装上应用效果,以期对发动机涂装数字化领域的发展起到一定的参考作用。

基于点云薄切技术的协作机器人喷漆轨迹规划算法

针对传统喷漆轨迹规划算法中需要大量搜索最近点对的缺陷,提出一种基于点云薄切技术的初始轨迹点提取算法。该算法通过计算点云模型密度确定切片厚度,并将薄片上的点设定为初始轨迹点,通过避免点对搜索的方式提高了运行效率。为解决传统线性插值算法导致的轨迹精度不足和曲率过大等问题,提出一种轨迹拟合算法。该算法首先将三维空间中的轨迹点映射到二维坐标系,并引入孤立森林算法去除轨迹点异常值,然后结合曲线拟合方法进行轨迹规划。实验结果表明,该算法规划的轨迹具有更高的精度和光滑度,同时提升了算法的整体运行效率。

造型线机器人型腔喷涂自动化系统的介绍

针对人工喷涂存在的轨迹误差大、安全性低、涂料浪费严重导致成本升高的问题,提出了基于工业机器人的造型线型腔自动化喷涂系统方案。方案的自动化喷涂系统主要由工业机器人系统、自动化喷涂系统、以及其他配套设施组成,由工业机器人与配套系统代替人工进行喷涂作业。以某造型车间为实施场景,在实际生产测试中表明,方案显著提升了生产效率与生产规范性,满足生产节拍要求(40 s/个),同时避免了人工作业中人为因素带来的作业缺陷、安全隐患与原料浪费问题。