Multistage Robotic Repair System with Deployable Legs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current robotic repair systems for difficult-to-access surfaces like wind turbine blades and pipes face challenges such as increased weight, size, and power requirements, which limit their mobility and expose workers to safety risks during installation and operation, especially in hazardous offshore conditions.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight, multifunctional robotic repair system with a multistage platform, deployable legs, and a repair arm equipped with end effector tools that can switch between tasks quickly, integrated with a mobile platform for remote operation, using suction cups, grappling hooks, or magnets for surface attachment, and featuring autonomy and human-in-the-loop control for safety and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a robotic repair system integrates multiple application-specific capabilities (repair tools, manipulation system), then the system can perform diverse repair tasks, but the weight, size, and power requirements increase, reducing amenability for integration into mobile robotic platforms
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system employs a universal end effector interface that can accommodate multiple different repair tools and manipulation capabilities through a single standardized mounting system. This allows the robot to perform diverse repair tasks (grinding, polishing, coating, inspection) without requiring separate specialized systems for each function, thereby increasing versatility while controlling weight and size.
Solution Approach 2:
The repair system is divided into modular components including the mobile platform, manipulator arm, and interchangeable end effectors. Each component can be independently selected, adjusted, or replaced based on specific repair needs. This segmentation allows the system to be configured for different tasks without carrying all possible tools simultaneously, reducing overall weight while maintaining adaptability.
2Ease of operation
If the robotic system is suspended on ropes from the wind turbine structure, then the system can access difficult-to-reach surfaces, but the movement is constrained along the ropes and requires installation by human users prior to operation, exposing workers to safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system incorporates self-deployable legs with suction cup attachment means that enable the robot to autonomously climb and secure itself to the wind turbine blade surface without requiring human installation of ropes or other support structures. The robot performs its own positioning and anchoring operations, eliminating the need for workers to expose themselves to hazardous conditions for rope installation while maintaining access to difficult-to-reach surfaces.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the robotic system uses deployable legs with suction cups for attachment, then the system can move freely along the surface, but the attachment mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system combines multiple attachment functions into an integrated leg assembly that incorporates suction cups, structural support, and actuation mechanisms in a single unified component. The legs serve both as structural elements for positioning and as attachment devices through their suction cup tips, eliminating the need for separate attachment mechanisms and reducing overall system complexity while maintaining mobility and adaptability along curved and flat surfaces.
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 system enables safe and efficient remote repair of surfaces by reducing weight and size, enhancing mobility, and allowing quick tool switching, thereby minimizing downtime and worker exposure to hazards while maintaining high precision and adaptability to various surface types.
Implementation Method 1
The suction cups may be configured to engage the surface by compressing the inlet sealing block towards the contact surface sealing block.
Data Source
AI summary
An integrated robotic repair system for repairing a surface is described. The said system comprising: a base translation system (110), said system comprising a multistage platform; a repair module (150), said module coupled to the translation system (110) to move the module (150) relative to the base translation system (110); an end effector selector system coupled to the repair module, said selector system comprising end effector repair tools (360, 362, 366), each tool (360, 362, 366) configured to undertake a repair task on the surface; and deployable legs (120), said legs (120) coupled to the base translation system (110) and configured to engage and disengage from the surface to allow the system to walk along surface.