Development of a New Biped Robot With Adaptive Suction Modules for Curved-Surface Climbing

Daily cleaning and maintenance of high-altitude pipes and curved surfaces in high-altitude buildings are high-risk tasks for human workers. Advanced robots are increasingly deployed to address such challenges to reduce risks. Currently, robots are widely used for cleaning buildings with flat walls, whereas they are difficult to climb on curved surfaces, limiting their applications. This letter proposes a novel biped curved-surface climbing robot (BCCR) with five-degree-of-freedom (5-DOF) motion. The BCCR features adaptive vacuum suction cups to adhere to both curved and flat surfaces, allowing safe movement on various surfaces. Each suction cup comprises three small suction pads, which can rotate in any direction to achieve adaptive adhesion to curved surfaces with different curvatures. Mechanism design of the BCCR with adaptive suction cups is conducted, demonstrating its robust capabilities of curved-surface climbing. Moreover, the suction cups can adhere to stepped surfaces, expanding the robot's applications. The 5-DOF kinematics enables the robot to overcome obstacles easily, making it highly versatile to perform cleaning and maintenance tasks on curved surfaces, including large curved pipes. Experimental results reveal that the proposed 5-DOF robot can climb on curved and flat surfaces and complete obstacle-crossing operations on complex pipe surfaces.