Wall Climbing Robots

Intro

Wall climbing robots have been a fascination of science and research for many years now. Some use bio-inspired ‘soft robotics’ to create adhesion and movement methods, others rely on force vacuum to stick to surfaces. 

However, all have their benefits and limitations. 

Categories

1. Soft robotics. Many research projects using soft or bio-inspired robotics to climb. Examples include mimicking the footprint of a gecko, which has lots of microscopic hairs to create the attraction force on a surface. The main benefits of systems like this are their low power requirements, but clearly have limitations in real-world use.
2. Magnetics. A widely accepted and commercially available style of wall climbing robot is the magnetic adhesion system. Various companies and research use a version of magnetic tracks or wheels to create adhesion force upon magnetic surfaces, and can be used in examples such as the ship-yard industry or some industrial assets. 
3. Vacuum/ Suction. A final widely adopted system for wall climbing robots is using vacuum or a suction force to create adhesion. These robots will have a suction cup or a sealed vacuum area to keep the adhesion to the surface. The main limitation here is the requirement to keep the seal maintained at all time, and thus they are only really effective on perfectly smooth surfaces.
4. Others. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and many other whacky ideas have surfaced over the years, however, the 3 above represent the most promising wall climbing systems in use today.

HausBots Wall Climbing Solution

One windy afternoon in the UK, our Co-Founder, Harry, was asked to paint his parents house. Whilst dangling off a ladder, he thought to himself that it was ridiculous and fundamentally dangerous in this day and age to be risking life and limb in such a way. He went to the garage and started prototyping and designing a robot to climb walls and help him painting. 

It quickly became clear, however, that what we had created was a fantastic climbing machine first and foremost, with many applications. 

The system relies on Formula 1 style aerodynamics to create pressure differentials, and thus keep a robot stuck to a wall. The specially designed chassis means we don’t need to maintain a seal or vacuum area, and thus our system can climb rough surfaces, overcome obstacles and carry an additional payload of around 6kg. 

The system is tethered from the floor for power and runs off 110v, so is a very safe system, with effectively unlimited run time. 

Today

At HausBots, we use technology to protect and maintain the built environment. 

HausBots have developed a series of attachments for the wall climbing robot and its patent-pending system.

The use cases we specialise in are: 

• Exterior protective paints for residential, such as Stormdry
• Commercial and warehouse painting
• Commercial exterior painting 
• External building works 
• Inspection of buildings
• Inspection of industrial assets, silos, power plants
• Cleaning (solar panels, windows) 
• Monitoring large structures (bridges,
  concrete dams,)

We service all clients including:

1. Housing association and councils 
2. Block managers and property managers
3. Homeowners
4. Subcontract to professional painting contractors
5. Infrastructure owners
6. Engineering surveyors and consultants
7. Insurance surveys

To conclude, when assessing your options for waterproofing brick project, consider involving a professional firm who can risk assess the situation properly and offer solutions. 

Please do get in touch with photos of your project to see if HausBots can use robotics in your next inspection or maintenance project to info@hausbots.com