Research on Climbing Robot for Transmission Tower Based on Foot-End Force Balancing Algorithm

Abstract

This paper aims to introduce robot technology to carry out the safety inspection of transmission towers in long-distance power transmission, so as to improve the safety and efficiency of inspection. However, aiming at the problem that the existing climbing robots are mainly used for large load applications, which leads to the large size and lack of flexibility of the robot, we propose an innovative solution. Firstly, a lightweight quadruped climbing robot is designed to improve portability and operational flexibility. Then, a one-dimensional force sensor is added at the end of each leg of the robot, and a special swing phase trajectory is designed. The robot can judge whether the electromagnetic adsorption is effective and avoid potential safety hazards. Finally, based on the principle of virtual model control (VMC), a foot-end force balancing algorithm is proposed to achieve uniform distribution and continuous change in force, and improve safety and load capacity. The experiments show that the scheme has a stable climbing ability in the environments of angle steel, vertical ferromagnetic plane and transmission tower.

Keywords

• transmission tower
• climbing robot
• quadruped climbing robot
• electromagnetic adsorption
• foot-end force balancing