Research On Gecko Robot For Climbing The Ceiling Based On Dry Adhesion Technology

Geckos have excellent climbing ability on different surfaces.The adhesion force required for stable climbing depends on the intermolecular force(Van der Waals force)formed between the setae of the foot and the contact surface.Compared with other adhesive methods,dry adhesion technology has some advantages,for instance,it is easy to adhere with noiseless,and also reusable and widely used.However,most of the existing gecko-inspired robots based on dry adhesion technology just realize the climbing on the vertical surface.To realize the stable climbing of the gecko-inspired robot on the ceiling surface is still an extremely important technical difficulty.Developing the stable movement of attaching/detaching of the gecko-inspired robot with the ability of TDOF(Three-Dimension-Obstacle-Free)has great significance and application value in the fields of anti-terrorism detection,narrow space detection,spacecraft surface maintenance in orbit.In this paper,a bionic foot structure of the gecko-inspired robot with the ability of autonomous attaching/detaching was designed by observing and analyzing the movement of attaching/detaching of gecko(Gekko gecko).Based on the established motion coordinate system of the robot,the kinematics analytic formula was obtained by analyzing the forward/inverse kinematics,and the derivation of forward/inverse kinematics formula was verified by the “MATLAB/SimMechanics”.The adhesion properties of dry adhesive materials were examined to analyze the relationship between adhesion force and contact area,and the adhesion model of dry adhesive materials was proposed.A variety of novel toe structures were designed to test and analyze the effects of pre-pressure,toe structures and toe movement patterns on the maximum adhesion force of the bionic foot.The relationship between toe structure,collision speed and toe deformation state before impact and the adhesion of the foot after impact was tested to obtain the optimal parameters that are suitable for the stable adhesion movement of the gecko robot on the ceiling surface.The variation of collision forces between the foot of the gecko robot and the contact surface were analyzed,and the spring damping model was used to simulate the mechanical characteristics of the attaching/detaching of foot.To verify the feasibility of the spring damping model,some gecko gaits were designed to simulate the stable movement of attaching/detaching of the gecko-inspired robot on the ceiling surface.The control strategy of the stable movement of the robot on the ceiling surface was planned and designed,and the experiment of climbing on the ceiling surface of the robot was carried out.Experimental results showed that the gecko-inspired robot can climb stably on the ceiling surface which also achieved the robot’s ability of TDOF.Moreover,this paper verify the feasibility of the foot structure,gait planning and motion control method,and it contributes a theoretical and experimental foundation to dry adhesion robot with the ability of TDOF.