Design and Force Performance Analysis of a Climbing Robot Based on Halbach Magnetic Array

Dangers in aerial work will cause huge economic losses and casualties. To improve this problem, this paper designs a track climbing robot based on the Halbach square magnetic array, which can be used for the inspection and maintenance of large steel structures. First, the adsorption unit uses the Halbach square magnetic array to arrange permanent magnets. The load- bearing mechanism transfers the weight of the robot body to the track plate while sharing the load of two axes and assisting the track to stick to the wall. The tensioning mechanism is used to support the track. Then, the critical states of the two failure types of sliding and overturning of the climbing robot are analyzed, and the magnetic adsorption force provided by the single track plate required for the stable adsorption of the robot is determined; the two motion states of the robot, straight and turning, are analyzed, and the torque provided by the drive device required when the robot moves is determined. Finally, the adsorption force of the adsorption unit is calculated by COMSOL simulation; the axial and circumferential movement of the track along the curved surface is simulated and analyzed to verify the feasibility of the climbing robot. The results show that the robot can be stably adsorbed on the wall, the adsorption force of a single track shoe should be no less than 48.59N for the robot to move flexibly on the wall, and the driving torque provided by the drive device of the single-side track should be greater than 20.47N, the adsorption unit using N42 permanent magnet can bring an adsorption force of 27.812N. (c) 2024 Jordan Journal of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. All rights reserved