A magnetic climbing robot for steel bridge inspection

Corrosion can cause section loss or cracks in the steel members which is one of the most important causes of deterioration of steel bridges. For some critical components of a steel bridge, it is fatal and could even cause the collapse of the whole bridge. Nowadays the most common approach to steel bridge inspection is visual inspection by inspectors with inspection trucks. This paper mainly presents a climbing robot with magnetic wheels which can move on the surface of steel bridge. Experiment results shows that the climbing robot can move on the steel bridge freely without disrupting traffic to reduce the risks to the inspectors.