Climbing Robot Fall-Arrest Mechanism for Power-Loss Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Climbing robots face safety risks due to potential falls caused by power loss, endangering the robot and its operator.
Innovation Solution
A climbing robot equipped with a fall fail-safe mechanism that includes an ascent mechanism, arresting mechanism, urging mechanism, retention mechanism, and power supply, where the retention mechanism releases the arresting mechanism to allow descent when power is lost, ensuring the robot remains stationary or ascends safely.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the climbing robot uses a power supply to drive the ascent mechanism, then the robot can ascend the structure, but power loss may cause the robot to fall
Solution Approach 1:
The arresting mechanism is pre-configured to engage with the structure and prevent descent. The urging mechanism continuously applies force to keep the arresting mechanism in the engaged position, creating a preliminary protective action that activates automatically upon power loss to counteract the harmful falling motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The urging mechanism acts as a fail-safe that is always ready to engage the arresting mechanism before a fall can occur. This preliminary cushioning ensures that when power is lost, the robot is immediately secured by the already-positioned arresting mechanism, preventing the harmful effect of falling.
2Reliability
If the arresting mechanism is engaged to impede descent, then safety is improved, but the robot cannot ascend
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between two states: during normal operation, the retention mechanism holds the arresting mechanism disengaged to allow ascent; upon power loss, the system automatically transitions to the engaged state where the urging mechanism secures the arresting mechanism to prevent descent. This dynamic state change resolves the contradiction between safety and ascent capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The urging mechanism is pre-positioned to immediately engage the arresting mechanism when needed, while the retention mechanism preliminarily maintains the disengaged state during ascent. This preliminary arrangement of mechanisms allows seamless transition between ascent and safety modes without operational conflict.
3Ease of operation
If the retention mechanism holds the arresting mechanism disengaged during ascent, then ascent is enabled, but power loss causes unintended engagement
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using power to actively engage the arresting mechanism for safety, the system inverts the approach: power is used to actively disengage the arresting mechanism during ascent, and safety is achieved by the passive default state when power is lost. The urging mechanism provides the passive force that engages safety when the active retention mechanism loses power, inverting the traditional active-passive relationship.
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
The fail-safe mechanism prevents the robot from falling during power loss, ensuring safety and maintaining operation by engaging the arresting mechanism to impede descent and allowing ascent when power is unavailable.
Implementation Method 1
the urging mechanism is gravity-powered so as to urge the arresting mechanism into the first position under gravity
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus for climbing a structure, the apparatus comprising alan: ascent mechanism for elevating the apparatus up the structure; arresting mechanism for actuation between a: first position in which the arresting mechanism is engaged to the structure so as to impede descent of the apparatus; and second position in which the arresting mechanism is disengaged from the structure so as to allow ascent of the apparatus; urging mechanism for urging the arresting mechanism into the first position; retention mechanism configured to work against the urging mechanism and for retaining the arresting mechanism in the second position; power supply configured to power both the ascent mechanism and the retention mechanism, such that: when powered by the power supply and the ascent mechanism is activated, the retention mechanism is configured to retain the arresting mechanism in the second position and the ascent mechanism is operable to ascend the structure; and when unpowered, the retention mechanism is caused to release the arresting mechanism, thereby causing the urging mechanism to actuate the arresting mechanism into the first position, and the ascent mechanism is deactivated.