Study on the Design of Adhesion Mechanism for Legged Wall Climbing Robots

In Japan, the aging of infrastructure has increased the need for efficient inspection and maintenance. To address challenges in narrow or elevated environments, compact wall-climbing robots are being developed. This study investigates suction mechanisms for such robots, focusing on negative pressure and vacuum suction. Previous work evaluated exhaust performance using a ducted fan motor; however, its general applicability remained unverified. We conducted further experiments using motors with different characteristics and confirmed the test system's airtightness. In addition, vacuum suction actuators were assessed with a custom force measurement device. Based on the results, vacuum pumps are newly considered as potential actuators for negative pressure systems. These findings contribute to selecting compact and effective suction mechanisms for confined-space wall-climbing robots.