Development of Wall-climbing Robots with Sliding Suction Cups

This paper investigates the development of wall-climbing robots (WCRs) with sliding suction cups (SSCs) based on the authors´ recent research work. The merits and the challenges of the SSCs are analyzed in detail aiming at wheeled WCRs (WWCRs). The dynamic model of WWCRs is presented. It should be noted that the suction force derived from SSCs has great influence on the motion characteristics of WCRs. To utilize the merits, get over the weaknesses of SSCs and increase the service abilities of wall-cleaning robots, a series of tether supported wall sliding robots (WSRs) with large SSCs are designed. The control strategies of suction force are investigated to improve the adaptability to complex wall surfaces