Design and analysis of a modular rope-climbing robot with the finger-wheeled mechanism

The rope-climbing robot that can cling to a rope for locomotion has been a popular equipment for some inspection applications due to its high flexibility. In this study, a modular rope-climbing robot with the finger-wheeled mechanism is proposed. Due to the ingenious finger-wheeled mechanism and the modular structure, the robot can achieve smooth and quick movement and good capability of obstacle-crossing on the rope and has a high adaptability for different rope environments. On the basis of introducing the robot mechanism, the geometric definitions and descriptions that can present the robot configuration and position relative to the rope are established. Aiming at three typical states during obstacle-crossing, the geometric and force analysis is performed to establish the constraint equations for the robot, and then the simulation is carried out with the optimization calculating method to solve the geometric variables and external forces of the robot that can be used for the robot design work. Finally, the robot prototype is developed based on the design and analysis work, and the experiment is conducted to verify the performance of the robot.