ANALYSIS OF A CLIMBING PARALLEL ROBOT FOR CONSTRUCTION APPLICATIONS

This paper presents a parallel structure capable of climbing metal structures. Critical configurations of the designed robot to overcome structural nodes are analyzed. Considering its high load capacity and geometrical dexterity, the system is appropriate for maintenance, structural construction, and cleaning of large and dangerous structures. The designed climbing parallel robot (CPR) has a new kinematics structure for this kind of application based on a Stewart 6-6 platform. The aim of this paper is to show the kinematics and dynamics behavioral study of the CPR when used in different structures in construction sites. A series of configurations have been evaluated to simplify robot movement and displacement around corner positions of rectangular structures and beams as required in the construction framework.