A legged robot that moves across a steel structure is developed for steel bridge inspection. Powerful permanent magnets imbedded in each foot allow the robot to hang from a steel ceiling powerlessly. Although the magnets are passive, the attractive force is modulated by tilting the foot against the steel surface. This allows the robot to slide its feet along the surface using “moonwalk” and “shuffle” gait patterns. The robot can also detach its feet and “swing” them over small obstacles. These diverse walking patterns are created with a single servoed joint and two sets of simple locking mechanisms. Kinematic and static conditions are obtained for the underactuated legged robot to perform each gait pattern safely and stably. A dynamic model is built for swinging a leg, and a desirable swing trajectory that keeps the foot reaction force lower than its limit is obtained. A proof-of-concept prototype robot is designed, built, and tested. Experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the design concept and verify the analytical results.
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e-mail: amazumda@mit.edu
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August 2010
Research Papers
An Underactuated, Magnetic-Foot Robot for Steel Bridge Inspection
Anirban Mazumdar,
Anirban Mazumdar
Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Mechanical Engineering, D’Arbeloff Laboratory,
e-mail: amazumda@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02139
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H. Harry Asada
H. Harry Asada
Ford Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Fellow ASME
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: asada@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02139
Search for other works by this author on:
Anirban Mazumdar
Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Mechanical Engineering, D’Arbeloff Laboratory,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02139e-mail: amazumda@mit.edu
H. Harry Asada
Ford Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Fellow ASME
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02139e-mail: asada@mit.edu
J. Mechanisms Robotics. Aug 2010, 2(3): 031007 (9 pages)
Published Online: July 21, 2010
Article history
Received:
August 27, 2009
Revised:
January 21, 2010
Online:
July 21, 2010
Published:
July 21, 2010
Citation
Mazumdar, A., and Asada, H. H. (July 21, 2010). "An Underactuated, Magnetic-Foot Robot for Steel Bridge Inspection." ASME. J. Mechanisms Robotics. August 2010; 2(3): 031007. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4001778
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