This paper introduces a new generation wall-climbing robots named as City-climber, which has the capabilities to climb
walls, walk on ceilings, and transit between different surfaces. Unlike the traditional wall-climbing robots, the Cityclimber
robots use aerodynamic attraction which achieves good balance between strong adhesion force and high
mobility. Since the City-climber robots don't require perfect sealing as the vacuum suction technique does, the robots
can move on virtually any kinds of smooth or rough surfaces. The other novelties of the City-climber robots are the
modular design and high-performance on-board processing unit. The former feature achieves booth fast motion of each
module on planar surfaces and smooth transition between the surfaces by a set of two modules. The latter feature makes
the real-time signal processing and autonomous operation possible. We envision that the City-climber robots be used in
urban environments for search and rescue, weapon/tool delivery, inspection and surveillance purposes. To increase the
hardware and software reconfigurability, the self-contained City-climber robots use system-on-programmable-chip
(SoPC) technology for on-board perception and motion control. The video display several versions of the City-Climber
prototypes, illustrating the main areas of functionality and results of several key experimental tests, including 4.2kg
payload, operation on rough surfaces, locomotion over surface gaps, and inverted operation on ceiling, to name a few.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.