A novel propeller-type climbing robot for vessels inspection

This paper is proposing and designing a novel propeller-type climbing robot for exploring the interiors of industrial vessels and enables a human outside it to implement required regular inspection tasks efficiently. There are two main adhesion systems in the literature: magnetic and air suction systems. The magnetic system climbs surfaces made of ferromagnetic materials only, while air suction system can handle neither irregular surfaces due to possible seal damage nor cylindrical surfaces. Opposite to previous climbing robots, the proposed robot here can climb and navigate vessels made from different materials besides handling possible irregular or cylindrical surfaces. Its main task is visual inspection of welds and any critical spots inside these vessels. The novelty of this robot comes from utilizing a hybrid actuation system consists of upturned propellers fixed on mobile robot with motorized wheels. The pressure generated from the upturned propellers increases the friction force between the wheels of the mobile robot and the wall. The wheels´ motors generate the required torque either to fix the robot at any position or to move it to any place. Since the motion of the robot comes mainly from the motorized wheel, the stability of the system during navigation is guaranteed. Simulation and control results of the designed robot using ADAMS and Matlab softwares prove the success and feasibility of the robot concept.