CCRobot-S: A Robotic Cable-Climbing Squad Collaborating for Fast Inspection and Heavy-Duty Maintenance
Yongyuan Xu,, Wenchao Zhang, Xiaoli Hu, Jianguo Zhang, and Tin Lun Lam,,∗
AI summary
Problem
Existing cable-climbing robots cannot simultaneously achieve high efficiency, heavy payload capacity, and versatility for inspecting and maintaining long-span bridge stay cables, often requiring tedious manual installation and lacking cable-crossing capabilities.
Approach
The system deploys four mobile anchor bases with winches that collaboratively pull and reconfigure a central flying platform via parallel cables, using controllable adhesion to decouple locomotion from surface friction and enable seamless cable-crossing.
Key results
- 15 m/min climbing speed with 30 kg payload
- Seamless cable-crossing via reconfigurable parallel cables
- Optimized zero-downtime and spider-like climbing gaits
- Force multiplication through collaborative winch control
Why it matters
It provides a scalable, high-efficiency robotic solution for the critical inspection and maintenance of massive cable-stayed bridges, reducing manual labor and expanding the operational limits of infrastructure robotics.
Abstract
This study introduces a novel climbing strategy, reconfigurable parallel-type cable-driven climbing designed for long-span, large-scale bridge stay cable robotic applications, which has the potential to revolutionize the stay cable inspection and maintenance practice. The proposed methodology features the development of a Collaborative Climbing Robot Squad (CCRobot-S), which builds upon the design principles of the previous CCRobot series. In this study, CCRobot-S implements a parallel-type cable-driven manipulation design, allowing for reconfigurable kinematic morphology by its movable anchor bases and realizing the capacity of crossing over the stay cables for its flying platform. The collaborative robot squad design liberates the dimensions and scales of the robot’s reachable workspace and moves the part of the robotic system that indeed needs to be moved, enhancing the working efficiency and climbing agility. This strategy also utilizes controllable adhesion instead of friction to interact with the bridge cable surface for the flying platform, realizing force multiplication for forceful manipulation. Toward bringing high efficiency and heavy-duty capacity, we propose the applicable climbing frameworks (zero-downtime climbing gait for cable inspection and spider-like climbing gait for cable maintenance) and the optimization frameworks (optimal anchor configuration for the movable anchor bases and optimal grasp arrangement for the flying gripper). This article includes the exploration of the design and climbing gaits of CCRobot- S, the formulation of the CCRobot-S model, a comprehensive analysis of its workspace, and its climbing strategy and optimiza- tion. Extensive experiments have assessed the proposed climbing strategy’s effectiveness and showcased CCRobot-S’ capabilities.