Obstacle Crossing Ability of a New Wheel-Based Cable Climbing Robot

In this paper, the obstacle crossing capability of the previously designed cable climbing robot was analyzed. Static equations were established to analyze the relationships between the external forces and the maximum height of the obstacles. That several parameters affected the obstacle crossing ability of the robot was concluded. An innovated small volume, simple structure and light weight wheel-based cable climbing robot was proposed. The ameliorated robot is composed of one passive module and a powered wheel. A simplified kinematic model of the driving wheel was established. The comparison of the simulation results indicated that the climbing ability of newly-designed robot improved apparently, and it can climb over obstacles demanded by cable inspection. The analysis supplies the theoretical basis to the structural optimization.