Structural design of suction cup-based bionic inchworm robot and kinematic analysis of slope climbing

To meet the operational requirements in complex slope environments, this paper designs a suction cup-type bionic inchworm robot. This robot is composed of six parts including electric suction cups and a main control board. The bottom is equipped with six electric suction cups to ensure stable operation. The adsorption structure adopts two sets of three electric suction cups distributed in an equilateral triangle to ensure uniform force distribution. The length of the body can be adjusted steplably to adapt to different crossing situations. The adsorption force of the single-ended suction cup that ensures the stable operation of the robot was determined through static numerical simulation. The motion simulation of the robot's climbing and nodal crossing conditions was carried out. The results show that the climbing period is 10 seconds and the movement is 100mm, the nodal crossing period is 8.1 seconds and the movement is 715mm. The movement process is smooth without sudden changes. It can accurately complete the task at the preset speed and path, providing a new solution for climbing operations in complex slope environments.