Advances in Climbing Robots

This chapter presents a comprehensive survey of the adhesion mechanisms and locomotion techniques used in climbing robots. It highlights some representative climbing robots with most successful implementation of climbing robot technologies. Some innovative ideas and emerging technologies for climbing robots are also introduced. The chapter classifies the adhesion mechanism into six categories and summarizes their advantages and limitations. The future research and development directions of climbing robots will mainly focus on the improvement of adhesion reliability and locomotion maneuverability, and the transformation of these innovative technologies into real-world applications. For any climbing robot to be used as a commercial product, reliability is the most critical and determining factor for commercial success. No matter what adhesion mechanism is used, it must be able to supply the necessary attraction force for the robot to operate on targeted wall surfaces reliably at all times.