Experimental study of vortex suction unit-based wall-climbing robot on walls with various surface conditions

2018 ◽  
Vol 232 (21) ◽  
pp. 3977-3991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianghong Zhao ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Jin Bai
Keyword(s):  
Vortex Flow ◽  
Functional Relationship ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Vortex Chamber ◽  
Wall Surface ◽  
Climbing Robot ◽  
Suction Force ◽  
Surface Conditions ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
Suction Performance

This study presents a wall-climbing robot called Vortexbot. Vortexbot has a suction unit that uses vortex flow to generate a suction force. Unlike the traditional unit based on contact-type suction, the suction unit can maintain a suction force without any contact with the wall surface. Therefore, the suction unit can provide a climbing robot with sufficient stable suction force even on walls with very rough surfaces and raised obstacles/grooves, and there is no wear and tear. Furthermore, the compressed air vents from the gap between the suction unit and the wall surface after rotating in the vortex chamber. Hence, such kind of flow direction can avoid the effect of the dust and dropped items on the wall surface. In this paper, we first introduced the vortex suction unit principle and discuss the feasibility of its application to a wall-climbing robot. Subsequently, the mechanical structure of Vortexbot was designed. After which, we surveyed the suction properties of the suction unit on a smooth wall surface. Then the functional relationship between the percentage change in the suction force and the supply flow rate was obtained. In addition, we studied the effect of the roughness and shape (a raised obstacle and groove) of the wall surface on the suction performance of the suction unit. Finally, we experimentally verified the climbing performance of Vortexbot on several kinds of walls with different surface conditions. It was confirmed that using the suction unit improves the robot’s climbing performance.

scholarly journals Study on the Optimal Design for Cavitation Reduction in the Vortex Suction Cup for Underwater Climbing Robot

2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Yibing Zhao ◽  
Canjun Yang ◽  
Yanhu Chen ◽  
Jia Li ◽  
Siyue Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Force Measurement ◽  
Optimization Method ◽  
Climbing Robot ◽  
Suction Force ◽  
Suction Cup ◽  
Fluctuation Phenomenon ◽  
Pressure Area ◽  
Pressure Water ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics Cfd ◽  
Suction Performance

In order to adhere to the wall stably in an underwater environment, a vortex suction cup that injects high-pressure water inside via two axisymmetrically side-distributed inlets to create a negative pressure area in the center is the necessary component for the underwater climbing robot (UCR). However, the suction force of this vortex suction cup is reduced and periodically unstable due to unstable cavitation. The aim of this paper is to propose a cavitation reduction optimization method for vortex suction cups and to verify the effectiveness of the optimization. Analyses of this vortex flow, including streamlines, pressure, and cavitation number fluctuations, were carried out by the introduced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulating methods based on the multiphase RNG k−ε model to study the periodic fluctuations of the suction force of the original suction cup and the optimized ones. Force measurement and vortex observation experiments were conducted to compare the suction force of the original vortex suction cup and the optimized suction cup, as well as the cavitation and pressure fluctuation phenomenon. Results of simulation and experiments prove the existence of the effect of vortex cavitation on the suction performance and verify the rationality of optimization as well.

scholarly journals A gecko-inspired wall-climbing robot based on vibration suction mechanism

2019 ◽  
Vol 233 (19-20) ◽  
pp. 7132-7143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Chen ◽  
Leilei Fu ◽  
Yilin Qiu ◽  
Ruizhou Song ◽  
Yan Jin
Keyword(s):  
Motion Planning ◽  
Negative Pressure ◽  
Load Capacity ◽  
Wall Surface ◽  
Climbing Robot ◽  
Suction Force ◽  
Turning Angle ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Tripod Gait ◽  
Climbing Ability

A prototype of gecko-inspired wall-climbing robot based on vibration suction mechanism is proposed. The robot adheres to the wall surface based on a novel negative pressure technology named as vibration suction. According to the theory of vibration suction, the vibration suction module is designed as the foot of the wall-climbing robot. In addition, the tripod gait of geckos is taken into account in the motion planning of the robot. By combining the unique properties of vibration suction mechanism and the tripod gait of the geckos, several advantages including stable motion, certain load capacity, anti-overturning ability, and good suction force to the wall surfaces are obtained. The climbing ability is verified by the experiment on the surface of the glass, which manifests that the robot can climb vertically at the highest speed of 13.75 mm/s with a spot turning at the single maximum turning angle of 20°. Potential applications of this proposed climbing robot in some fields include repair, construction, cleaning, and exploration.

Vortex Flow Controllers in Sanitary Engineering

1984 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Brombach
Keyword(s):  
Flow Control ◽  
Flow Pattern ◽  
Flow Resistance ◽  
Vortex Flow ◽  
Vortex Chamber ◽  
Control Problems ◽  
Inlet Port ◽  
Input Pressure ◽  
Conical Vortex ◽  
Moving Parts

Flow control problems in combined sewerage systems can be solved with the aid of a new variation of the vortex amplifier. This valve has no moving parts, and comes under the category of pure fluidics; it has a conical vortex chamber and a single inlet port. Depending on the level of water in the vortex chamber the flow pattern may be either axially symmetrical or axially asymmetrical. This effect enables the device to alter its flow resistance in response to the input pressure. Several hundred of this type of the flow controller are already in operation. An example of their application is described below.

Two-dimensional pressure field and backflow in the annular skirt of vortex gripper

2020 ◽  
pp. 095440622097404
Author(s):  
Jianghong Zhao ◽  
Xin Li
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Pressure Distribution ◽  
Local Stress ◽  
Vortex Chamber ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Stress Concentrations ◽  
Suction Force ◽  
Maximum Value ◽  
Gap Height

The vortex gripper is a kind of pneumatic noncontact gripper that does not produce a magnetic field and heat. It can grip a workpiece without physical contact, which avoids any unintentional damage such as mechanical scratches, local stress concentrations, frictional static electricity, and surface stains. This study focused on the two-dimensional pressure distribution field on a workpiece surface under the vortex gripper. Theoretical, experimental, and computational fluid dynamics results were combined to study the backflow phenomenon in the annular skirt, which can decrease the gripper’s suction force after the maximum value is reached. First, the pressure distribution in the annular skirt was theoretically modeled. A comparison with the experimental results showed that increasing the gap height between the gripper and workpiece generates a circumferentially asymmetrical flow field in the skirt. Based on this, it was hypothesized that an airflow in the circumferential direction may exist. The experimental data and simulation results were analyzed under large gap height conditions to observe the backflow in detail and it was found that an uneven pressure distribution with positive and negative pressure regions generated by the uneven flow is the root cause of the backflow. Finally, the effect of the backflow on the flow field in two different flow regions (in the annular skirt and inside the vortex chamber) was analyzed and the reason why the suction force of the vortex gripper has a maximum value was determined.

Boundary Layer Effects in the Turbulent Spiral Vortex Flow of a Compressible Fluid

1968 ◽  
Vol 183 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. F. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Vortex Flow ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Cross Flow ◽  
Radial Pressure ◽  
Vortex Chamber ◽  
Adiabatic Wall ◽  
Spiral Vortex ◽  
Momentum Integral

Because of the characteristically narrow impeller tip width in a proposed supersonic centrifugal compressor design, boundary layer effects in the vortex chamber are likely to be significant. The radial pressure gradient in the chambers sweeps retarded fluid towards the centre of curvature of the streamlines, thereby creating a ‘cross-flow’ in the boundary layer which is three-dimensional. Although the flow geometry has axial symmetry, the cross-flow is not independent of the streamwise flow. The momentum—integral method is adopted, together with assumptions concerning the velocity profiles; the energy equation is solved with the assumption of an adiabatic wall. Simultaneous solution of the free stream and boundary layer equations yields results emphasizing the critical dependence of the transverse deflection and growth of the boundary layer on the whirl component of the velocity. Separation cannot be predicted, but effects in the free stream can be estimated when the perturbations are small. Although the results are related to compressor performance, the method is generally applicable in situations where the idealizing assumption of spiral vortex flow is acceptable.

Control of first-wall surface conditions in the 2XIIB magnetic mirror plasma confinement experiment

1976 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 59-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.C. Simonen ◽  
R.H. Bulmer ◽  
F.H. Coensgen ◽  
W.F. Cummins ◽  
C. Gormezano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Mirror ◽  
Wall Surface ◽  
First Wall ◽  
Plasma Confinement ◽  
Surface Conditions

A Gecko-Inspired Robot for Wind Power Tower Inspection

2013 ◽  
Vol 461 ◽  
pp. 831-837
Author(s):  
Xue Shan Gao ◽  
Jie Shao ◽  
Fu Quan Dai ◽  
Cheng Guo Zong ◽  
Wen Zeng Guo
Keyword(s):  
Wind Power ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Degree Of Freedom ◽  
Small Radius ◽  
Wall Surface ◽  
Climbing Robot ◽  
Soft Body ◽  
Climbing Ability

In order to accomplish the task of wind power tower inspection, a heavy-loaded climbing robot inspired by geckos is presented in this paper. The robot not only imitates body’s functions of geckos but also shows a design method. Wind power tower is a conical wall surface and its smallest radius is less than 2m. There will be a great gap when a robot climbing on such wall with small radius. The extraordinary climbing ability of geckos is considered as a remarkable design of nature that is attributed to its soft body, its multi-degree-of-freedom legs, and its strong-adsorbed toes. Focus on the feature of working on such wall surface, gecko’s body, toes and legs are simplified as free joints, magnetic units and redundant tracks respectively, based on the functions of gecko’s limbs and body. The adaptability of the robot is tested by the experiments in laboratory. With the gecko-inspired structure, the robot can climb on the wall surface with minimum 2m in diameter in any direction.

A wall-climbing robot for labelling scale of oil tank's volume

Robotica ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeliang Xu ◽  
Peisun Ma
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Permanent Magnet ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Computer Control ◽  
Wall Surface ◽  
Climbing Robot ◽  
Processing Data ◽  
Oil Tank

A Wall-Climbing Robot (WCR) with magnetic tracks is presented in this paper. The robot is designed for labeling the scale of oil tank.5 The Wall-Climbing Robot (WCR) uses a permanent magnet sucker as its sucking mode, and a track as its moving mode. We designed an elastic brace mechanism, a load-scatter mechanism and parallelogram mechanism to improve the robot's adaptability on the steel wall surface. The control system utilizes two-level computer control systems, achieving control of the robot's moving track and processing data collected by the robot.

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