Adhesive Technology and Locomotion in Path Planning of Wall-Climbing Robots: A Mini Review

Wall-climbing robots are specialized robotic systems capable of adhering to vertical surfaces and moving freely to perform tasks using various adhesion mechanisms. These robots hold significant application potential across multiple domains. Based on their adhesion methods, climbing robots can be categorized into several types: negative pressure adhesion, magnetic adhesion, electrostatic adhesion, bio-inspired adhesion, and thrust-based adhesion. In terms of locomotion, they can be classified into wheeled, tracked, legged, and hybrid configurations. This paper reviews the current research status of various wall-climbing robots, highlighting their respective advantages and disadvantages, and discusses future development directions. Additionally, the path planning of wall-climbing robots is broadly divided into global and local approaches. The underlying principles of commonly used path planning algorithms are introduced, along with an analysis of future trends in this area.