Climbing Robot

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  • Gecko-Inspired Dry Adhesive Based on Micro−Nanoscale Hierarchical Arrays for Application in Climbing Devices

The unusual ability of geckos to climb vertical walls underlies a unique combination of a hierarchical structural design and a stiffer material composition. While a dense array of microscopic hierarchical structures enables the gecko toe pads to adhere to various surfaces, a stiffer material composition enables them to maintain reliable adhesion over innumerable cycles.

Fabrication of gecko-inspired hierarchical arrays by SLAN. Process steps shown in the schematic are: (a) imprinting of micropillar arrays on a flexible PC sheet. (b) Formation of a sacrificial layer of PSS encapsulating the micropillar arrays. (c) Imprinting of fibrillar arrays over the micropillar structures secured within the sacrificial layer, using a porous anodized alumina template. The sacrificial layer protects the micropillar arrays from deforming during the second imprinting stage. (Illustrated in the inset) (d) dissolution of the sacrificial layer by immersion in water, thereby exposing the hierarchical arrays.
SEM images of the fibrillar and hierarchical arrays. (a) Densely packed fibrillar arrays of diameter ∼200 nm and aspect ratio (λ) = 10 fabricated on PC sheets. The inset depicts a cross-sectional view of the fibrillar arrays, showing free-standing and upright fibrils. The scale bar for the inset is the same as that of (a). (b) Low magnification SEM showing hierarchical arrays with a very high yield fabricated over a larger area by the SLAN technique. Cross-sectional view of hierarchical arrays with the same micropillar diameter (3 μm) and two different aspect ratios (of micropillars): (c) λM = 2 and (d) λM = 4.
  • With Bilayer Dry Adhesives
CAD model of miniature climbing robot with wheel-leg
configuration of four “flaps”.
Slider-crank mechanism model for the robot motion

wheel-legs (whegs) type robot which utilizes bilayer dry adhesives ((PDMS)) and an unstructured backing layer of polymer (3M VHB tape)) for wall-climbing
  • With Bilayer Compliant Tape
CAD Model of miniature climbing robot with wheelleg
configuration of four ”flaps”
ORION prototypes without whegs: ORION-I (left),
ORION-II (right)
Adhesion area (a) PDMS with foam backing layer,
(b) Micro-Suction with foam backing layer
  • With Robust Internal and External Transitioning Capabilities
The miniature two-wheg climbing robot with novel vertical tail component for robust transitioning capabilities. It weighs 137.5 g and is equipped with electronics for ISR task: microcontroller, IMU, Raspberry Pi Zero and camera module, and XBee communication module [5].
  • Climbing Robot with Robust Transition Patent [6]
  • References
  1. Hassan H. Hariri, Darren Koh C. Yung, Hoong Ching Lim, Audelia G. Dharmawan, Van Duong Nguyen, Gim Song Soh*, Shaohui Foong, Roland Bouffanais, Hong Yee Low and Kristin L. Wood, ‘’ORION-II: A Miniature Climbing Robot with Bilayer Compliant Tape for Autonomous Intelligent Surveillance and Reconnaissance’’, IEEE  2018 15th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision (ICARCV), 18-21 Nov. 2018, Singapore
  2. Audelia G. Dharmawan, Priti Xavier, Hassan H. Hariri, Gim Song Soh, Avinash Baji, Roland Bouffanais, Shaohui Foong, Hong Yee Low, Kristin L. Wood,’’Design, Modeling, and Experimentation of a Bio-Inspired Miniature Climbing Robot With Bilayer Dry Adhesives’’, ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, 2019
  3. Hemant Kumar Raut, Avinash Baji, Hassan Hussein Hariri, Hashina Parveen, Gim Song Soh, Hong Yee Low, and Kristin L. Wood, ”Gecko-Inspired Dry Adhesive Based on Micro−Nanoscale Hierarchical Arrays for Application in Climbing Devices”, ACS APPLIED Materials and Interfaces , 2017.
  4. Scaling to new heights with gecko-inspired adhesive
  5. Darren C. Y. Koh, Audelia G. Dharmawan, Hassan H. Hariri, Gim Song Soh,Shaohui Foong, Roland Bouffanais, Hong Yee Low, and Kristin L. Wood, ‘’Design and Analysis of A Miniature Two-Wheg Climbing Robot with Robust Internal and External Transitioning Capabilities’’, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 20, 2019, Montreal, Canada
  6. Gim Song Soh, Roland Bouffanais, Foong Shaohui, Hassan Hussein Hariri, Audelia Gumarus Dharmawan, Chee Yung Daren Koh, Kristin Wood, “Climbing Robot with Robust Transition”. WO 2020/214099