Cable-Driven Robot for Irregular Building Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic systems for maintaining and cleaning complex or irregular surfaces, such as buildings, towers, and bridges, are inefficient and challenging due to reliance on planar surfaces and manual operation, limiting their use on smaller and more restrictive spaces with complex geometries.
Innovation Solution
A cable-driven robotic system with adjustable pulley systems and multiple cables that can be removably coupled to a surface, allowing for automatic tension adjustment and movement on irregular surfaces, equipped with a body for performing services like cleaning or inspection, and a processor for generating surface coverage plans.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If existing robotic systems use gravity or planar surfaces to perform operations, then the system structure can be simplified, but the system cannot operate on irregular surfaces such as curved surfaces or surfaces with complex geometries
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system employs dynamically adjustable cable lengths through pulley systems, allowing the body to adapt its position and orientation to match irregular surface geometries. The cables can be independently lengthened or shortened to accommodate curved surfaces and complex shapes, enabling the system to maintain contact with surfaces of varying topology without requiring a completely restructured mechanical design
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of cable tension and cable length to adapt to different surface geometries. By adjusting the tension and length of individual cables in the multi-cable system, the robotic body can conform to irregular surfaces while maintaining operational capability, thus achieving versatility without proportionally increasing structural complexity
2Productivity
If manual operation is used for cleaning and maintaining surfaces, then the system can be simple in structure, but the operation is time-consuming and requires significant resources
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system performs operations autonomously without requiring continuous manual intervention. The body is equipped with operational tools that can independently execute cleaning or maintenance tasks on the surface, while the cable-driven mechanism automatically positions and repositions the body based on surface geometry, thereby increasing productivity without requiring a complex centralized control system
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual mechanical operation with an automated cable-driven mechanical system. Instead of human operators manually positioning and operating equipment, the patent employs an automated multi-cable pulley system that can independently adjust and position the operational body, significantly increasing operation speed while keeping the overall system architecture relatively simple
3Loss of time
If cable length is manually adjusted to maintain tension, then the system is simple to construct, but the setup is difficult and time-consuming in smaller and more restrictive spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual cable adjustment with an automated cable length adjustment mechanism. The pulley systems are equipped with actuators that can automatically lengthen or shorten cables based on real-time feedback from sensors detecting body position and surface geometry, eliminating the need for manual intervention during setup and operation
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms through sensors that monitor cable tension, body position, and surface characteristics. This feedback information is used by the control system to automatically adjust cable lengths through the pulley systems, maintaining optimal tension without manual intervention and significantly reducing setup time in restrictive spaces
4Ease of operation
If existing systems are used on smaller and more restrictive spaces, then the equipment can be simpler, but the systems are difficult and time-consuming to set-up
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system is divided into modular components including the operational body, multiple independent cable systems with pulleys, and sensor arrays. This segmentation allows each component to be independently configured and adjusted, making setup in restrictive spaces more manageable and less time-consuming, as components can be assembled and positioned separately before being integrated
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient and autonomous operation on complex surfaces, maintaining tension and position, allowing for thorough coverage of surfaces with complex geometries, reducing manual labor and setup time while ensuring safety and accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
A cable-driven robotic system with adjustable pulley systems and multiple cables that can be removably coupled to a surface, allowing for automatic tension adjustment and movement on irregular surfaces
Implementation Method 2
maintaining tension and position, allowing for thorough coverage of surfaces with complex geometries
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, systems and methods of performing a surface operation on a building are provided. The device comprises a plurality of cables removably coupled to a surface of a building, tower or bridge, each of the plurality of cables removably coupled at a different position on the surface; and a body coupled to the plurality of cables at an intersection of the plurality of cables. A length of each cable between the respective position on the surface and the body is automatically adjustable and a tension in each cable is maintained to move the body on the surface. The devices, systems, and methods can be used on buildings, tower, or bridges with complex geometries or irregular surfaces to for example, automatically clean the surface of the building.