A single DOF arm for transition of climbing robots between perpendicular planes

This paper introduces a novel single DOF plane transition mechanism, designed to enable wheel based climbing robots to transit between perpendicular planes. The developed mechanism is composed of an arm with two revolute joints derived by a single motor. An innovative transmission mechanism is designed based on the required trajectory and relative position for each arm link, enabling individual or simultaneous rotation of the two joints during the transition movement. An electromagnetic unit which adapts to both flat and curved structures is also designed and integrated in the arm. This solution was installed on the omnidirectional climbing robot, OmniClimber. The mechanism was successfully tested on a curved structure with a diameter of 220mm.