A Light-Weight Wheel-Based Cable Inspection Climbing Robot: From Simulation to Reality

A new light-weight wheel-based cable inspection climbing robot (WCR) is proposed in this paper, which targets on climbing and inspecting cable surface of suspension bridges. Meanwhile, a virtual prototype designed with a simulation software V-REP is used to guide and test the design of the physical prototype. WCR's body is a ring consists of three similar modules. Each module includes an arc hoop connected to a damper by a spring. Every damper contains two wheels for the free movement of WCR on cables. Compared to heavy and complex climbing robots carrying various inspection equipment, WCR weighs only 849 grams and can move on cables with a theoretical maximum speed of 0.2 m/s under remote control with three cameras on three modules to obtain images of the whole cable's surface. In addition, its simple structure with easy assembly promotes mass production and widespread application. Lab experimental results show that the physical prototype designed based on the virtual prototype can move freely on different slant cables.