Structure Design and Kinematical Analysis of a New Type Cable Climbing Robot

To meet the urgent requirements of automatic operation for cable inspection and maintenance, a new type continuous moving cable robot structure is designed in this paper. The robot has six wheels and driven by three motors, which makes the robot can move faster and more stable even there are barriers along cable. Firstly, the mechanism and working principle of the robot is described. Then the kinematics characteristics of the robot are analyzed based on working condition. The adhesive force, critical driving force and the maximum driving force are calculated considering the dynamic demands of the robot working in obstacle-surmount and non-obstacle-surmount state. Finally, motor parameters are decided according to forces requirement.