Simulation and locomotion control for the Alicia climbing robot

Abstract

In this work simulation and implementation of the locomotion control of a single sliding suction cup robot, named Alicia3, is described. The main purpose of this kind of system is to explore vertical walls to search for potential damages or problems on oil tanks or dams. By using this system as carrier, it will be possible to carry out a number of NDI/NDT on the wall. The system is mainly made of three modules linked by two arms actuated by two air pistons. The cups can slide over a wall by mean of a special sealing that allows maintaining the vacuum inside the cup and at the same time creates the right amount of friction according to the system weight and the target wall kind. A robot simulator implemented in Simulink® allows testing various locomotion strategies and will be described.