Design and Testing of a Novel Adhesion and Locomotion Method for Wall Climbing Vehicles

The objective of this project was to design, construct and test a wall climbing vehicle which uses a novel vacuum tread system for both adhesion and locomotion. The design and manufacturing of this proof of concept vehicle is detailed with particular emphasis on the design decisions that proved most...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Stefani, Jim R
Format: Others
Published: DigitalCommons@CalPoly 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1604
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2722&context=theses
Description
Summary:The objective of this project was to design, construct and test a wall climbing vehicle which uses a novel vacuum tread system for both adhesion and locomotion. The design and manufacturing of this proof of concept vehicle is detailed with particular emphasis on the design decisions that proved most impactful to the performance of both the vehicle and the tread system. Adhesion performance was characterized by a series of tests that validate the concept, but also identify improvements and design recommendations for future embodiments of the adhesion/locomotion system.