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Permanent Magnetic System Design for the

Wall-Climbing Robot

Conference Paper in Applied Bionics and Biomechanics · January 2006

DOI: 10.1533/abbi.2006.0024 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 Proceedings of the IEEE
International Conference on Mechatronics & Automation
Niagara Falls, Canada • July 2005
Permanent Magnetic System Design
for the Wall-climbing Robot
Weimin Shen and Jason Gu
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dalhousie University
1360 Barrington St.,NS B3J2X4, Canada
{Weimin.Shen & Jason.Gu}@dal.ca
Abstract – This paper presents the design of the permanent
magnetic system for the wall climbing robot with permanent
magnetic tracks. A proposed wall climbing robot with permanent
magnetic adhesion mechanism for inspecting the oil tanks is
briefly put forward, including the mechanical system
architecture. The permanent magnetic adhesion mechanism and
the tracked locomotion mechanism are employed in the robot
system. By static and dynamic force analysis of the robot, design
parameters about adhesion mechanism are derived. Two types of
the structures of the permanent magnetic units are given in the
paper. The analysis of those two types of structure is also
detailed. Finally, two wall climbing robots equipped with those
two different magnetic systems are discussed and the
experiments are included in the paper.
Index Terms – Wall climbing robot, magnetic adhesion,
tracked locomotion mechanism.
I. INTRODUCTION
The wall climbing robot is one kind of the special mobile
robots. Because the workspace of this kind of robots is often
on the vertical plane, not only does the wall climbing robot
need to have the same locomotion mechanism as mobile
robots, it also needs the special adhesion mechanism to
support it to absorb on the vertical walls. Therefore, it is more
challenging to develop a wall climbing robot that a mobile
robot.
To increase operation efficiency and protect human’s
health and safety in hazardous tasks makes the wall climbing
robot very attractive. By developing for several decades, the
wall climbing robot is widely applied in different industrial
departments, such as the inspection and maintenance of
storage tanks in nuclear power plants and petrochemical
enterprises [1][2], ship hull welding and cleaning [3], rescue
robots for fire fighting [4], the cleaning of high-rise buildings
[5] [6], etc.
According to the locomotion mechanism, the wall
climbing robot can be divided into four groups, namely,
wheeled mechanism [7], tracked mechanism [8], legged
mechanism [9], and locomotion based on arms and grippers
[10]. According to the adhesion mechanism, the wall climbing
robot can be divided into four groups, that is, magnetic
adhesion, vacuum sucker, propeller [11], and dry adhesion
using nanofabrication techniques [12]. Different adhesion
mechanism and different locomotion mechanism can be
combined to form different wall climbing robots.
0-7803-9044-X/05/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE 2078
Yanjun Shen
College of Science
Three Gorges University
Yichang, Hubei Province 443002, China
Shenyj70@126.com
The first wall climbing robot can be dated back to 60s last
century, developed by Nishi [13]. This wall climbing robot
has a large volume and is very heavy, using single vacuum
sucking cup. Later, around 80s, the wall climbing robot has
been developed rapidly. In particular, recently various wall
climbing robots are developed for wall cleaning, inspection,
maintenance, etc. A family of sky cleaner robots which are
totally actuated by pneumatic cylinders and sucked to the
glass walls with vacuum suckers are presented in [5][6]. The
type of this robot has lightweight and dexterous due to
pneumatic actuators, but it still needs a following system to
secure its safety. A miniature wall climbing robot is developed
in [14][15]. The climbing robot is supported by two suction
feet which can hold on smooth and non-porous surfaces. A
three-limbed climbing robot in vertical natural terrain is given
in [16]. The robot can climb real, vertical natural terrain, being
applied for military and civilian used as search, rescue,
reconnaissance, and planetary exploration. A quadruped
walking and climbing robot for NDT (non-destructive testing)
is put forward in [17]. The quadruped robot, called
“MRWALL SPECT III”, can walk in planes as well as climb
walls with suction pads and carry an ultrasonic NDT tool for
inspection of the large surface of industrial utilities. In [18],
the author presents a novel application of the Stewart-Gough
parallel platform as a climbing robot and its kinematics
control to climb through long structures describing unknown
spatial trajectories, such as palm trunks, tubes, etc. In [19], the
ROMA robot, a specially developed self-supported robot is
built, which is designed to perform 3D complex movements
and to navigate through metallic structures using “caterpillar”
concept. The adhesion mechanism and architecture of a wall
climbing robot are depended on its workspace. Our proposed
wall climbing robot is to carry NDT tools for inspecting the
oil tanks. We choose permanent magnetic adhesion
mechanism and tracked locomotion mechanism, due to high
reliability, simple control, running at a high speed, etc. As a
wall climbing robot with permanent magnetic adhesion
mechanism, the magnetic system is of importance, because it
will provide reliable absorption and safety.
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 gives a brief
background and related research. Section 3 details the analysis
of static and dynamic force about the wall climbing robot. The
design of the magnetic system is discussed in Section 4.
Applications of the magnetic system and experiments are
given in Section 5. The paper is concluded in Section 6.
 II. BACKGROUND AND RELATED RESEARCH
According to the requirements for the wall climbing
robot, the proposed wall climbing robot adopts permanent
magnetic adhesion, tracked locomotion [20]. The mechanical
architecture of the proposed wall climbing robot is shown in
Fig.1. It includes the frame of the body, the servo motors and
transmission system, the tracked locomotion system, the
permanent magnetic adhesion system, and the anti-toppling
system. Each track is comprised of a roller chain, two
sprockets, and some evenly arranged permanent magnetic unit.
When the robot moves, there are always a certain number of
units in good contact with the surface which enable the robot
A. Robot rotates about the point A. B. Robot slips down.
to reliably stay on it. The servo motors and the transmission
system provide driving power for the roller chain. The anti-
toppling system ensures the robot to safely move on the
surface up to 10mm fluctuation. This paper will detail the
design of magnetic circuit system.

C. Tracks roll down. D. Robot moves up.

Fig. 2 Forces and torques of the robot at 4 work conditions.

1) Rotating about Point A: If the robot rotates about

the point A, which is shown in A of Fig. 2, but still maintains
the balance status, we have,
n n
F = N .
¦ mi ¦ i
(1)
i =1 i =1

Because of the chain in the track is connected by numbers

of small joints, the torque at the point A cannot be transmitted
Fig. 1 Mechanical architecture of the robot by the chain. If the robot rotates about the point A, the first
upper magnetic unit will be lifted. At the point A, we have the
III. STATIC AND DYNAMIC FORCE ANALYSIS OF WALL torque balance equation, given by,
CLIMBING ROBOT ¦ M A = ( Fm1 − N1 )l1 − GH / 2 = 0 . (2)
Where l1 is the distance between the first upper magnetic
The static and dynamic analysis of the wall climbing
unit and the point A, H is the distance between the surface and
robot with permanent magnetic tracked locomotion
the mass centre of the robot.
mechanism is important to derive the requirements of the
By (2), we have,
magnetic adhesion mechanism. GH
F = +N (3)
m1 1
A. Static Force Analysis 2l1
If a wall climbing robot can safely move in a flat surface, If the first upper magnetic unit is absorbed on the surface,
it needs to fulfill some force constraints. The force analysis we have,
includes static and dynamic parts as follows. N1 ≥ 0 (4)
When the robot keeps staying on the vertical surface, it (3) can be rewritten as,
bears such forces as the gravity, the adhesion force between GH (5)
the permanent magnetic units, the supporting force of the F ≥ m1
2l1
surface, and the friction between the tracks and the surface,
Therefore, each permanent magnetic unit should fulfill (5)
which can be denoted as G, Fmi, Ni, and Ff, respectively.
to make the robot absorb on the surface.
There are 3 cases for the static force analysis when the
2) Slipping down from the Wall: When the robot stays on
robot maintains the static status on the vertical wall.
the surface as shown in B of Fig. 2, if the force of the

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absorption is small, the robot will slip down. To overcome this 150 N ≤ Fm ≤ 600 N (18)
problem, we have one constraint, The adhesion force of each permanent magnetic unit must
2 ⋅ Ff ≥ G (6) be bigger than the minimal value so that the robot can be
Suppose that the friction coefficient is μ, we have, absorbed on the wall safely. Furthermore, the adhesion force
n n must be smaller than the maximal value, otherwise, the more
F f = ¦ N i ⋅ μ = ¦ Fmi ⋅ μ = nFm ⋅ μ . (7)
power motors will be employed to drive the robot.
i =1 i =1
According to (6) and (7), we have, IV. DESIGN OF MAGNETIC CIRCUIT SYSTEM
G (8)
Fm ≥ To design the permanent magnetic unit, there are two
2n ⋅ μ problems needed to be done. One is to choose suitable
By (5) and (8), the absorption force of each unit is given material magnet, the other is to design the structure of this
by, unit. In Fig. 3, the lever equipment is built to facilitate the
­ GH G ½ (9) measurement of the permanent magnetic unit.
Fm ≥ max® , ¾
¯ 2l1 2n ⋅ μ ¿
3) Tracks rotating on the Wall: When the robot maintains
static status on the surface, if there is no brake torque given by
the motors, the tracks will rotate. As shown in D of Fig. 2, we
choose the point B as the rotation fulcrum, and suppose that
the brake torque and the torque given by the transmission are
Mb and Mt, respectively. So, we have,
M B = M b + M t + Fm1 ⋅ a − GH / 2 = 0 (10)
That is,
M b + M t = GH / 2 − Fm1 ⋅ a (11)
Fig.3 Lever equipment for experiment of magnetic structure
Where a is distance between N1 and Fm1.
A. Magnetic Material Choosing
B. Dynamic Force Analysis
The permanent magnet with high performance is adopted
There are 2 cases for dynamic force analysis when the
and its standard ingredient is Nd15Fe77B8. The parameters of
robot moves on the wall.
this material are listed in Tab.1.
1) Robot Crawling up: When the robot moves up, the
torque given by the motors Md should be large enough to drive TABLE I
the tracks. As shown in D of Fig. 2, we have, MAIN PARAMETERS OF ND15FE77B8
M d − Fmn ⋅ a − GH / 2 = 0 (12) Br HCB Hci HB Rate of
(T) (KA/m) (KA/m) (KJ/m3) Hysteresis (μrec)
That is, 1.06-1.16 800Д880 >1360 224-248 1.05Д1.10
M d = Fmn ⋅ a + GH / 2 (13)
Where a is distance between Nn and Fmn. B. Magnetic Unit Structure
2) Robot Crawling down: When the robot moves down, The structure of the permanent magnetic unit is critical,
we choose the point B as the rotation fulcrum, so we have, because an efficient structure provides small volume and large
absorption force.
M B = M t + Fm1 ⋅ a − M d − GH / 2 = 0 (14)
Generally, there exist two kinds of structures for the
That is, magnetic circuit system, which is shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5.
M d = M t + Fm1 ⋅ a − GH / 2 (15) Both of them are efficient. By the size of the locomotion
Therefore, by (11), (13), and (15), the parameters of mechanism, the size of each permanent magnet can be defines
motors can be decided. as 30 ×12×10 mm3 .
C. Requirements of Adhesion Mechanism C. Type A Structure Analysis
By consideration of the size, parameters of the motors, To test type A structure, three different experiments are
and requirements of the robot, we can obtain, undertaken as follows.
2n
(16) 1) Influence of Thickness of Iron Material Surface: In Fig.
588N ≤ F ≤ 196000N
¦ i
i =1
6, curve 1 shows the relationship between the force generated
The adhesion mechanism is composed of the roller chain, by the permanent magnetic unit and the air gap at 6mm of
and the permanent magnetic units. Each unit is installed on thickness of the iron material surface, and curve 2 shows the
two chain links. The number of permanent magnetic unit is 84. relationship between them at 4mm of thickness of the iron
Among them, there are 30 units being absorbed on the surface. material surface.
Therefore, by (16) the adhesion force of each unit is given by,
19.6 N ≤ Fm ≤ 6533 N (17)
By consideration of safe toleration, we have,

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Fig. 4 Type A structure of permanent magnetic unit
Fig. 5 Type B structure of permanent magnetic unit
Fig. 6 Influence of thickness of iron material surface
Fig. 7 Influence of thickness of the yoke
2) Influence of Thickness of Yoke: Suppose that the
thickness of the iron material surface is 6mm. In Fig. 7, curve
3 shows the relationship between the force generated by the
permanent magnetic unit and the air gap at 4-8-8-4mm of the
thickness of the yoke, curve 2 shows the relationship between
them at 5-9-5mm of thickness of the yoke, and curve 1 shows
the relationship between them at 6-12-6mm of thickness of the
yoke.
3) Influence of Difference of height of Yoke and Magnet:
In Fig. 8, curve 1 shows the relationship between the force
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generated by the permanent magnetic unit and the air gap at
2mm of difference of height of yoke and magnet, and curve 2
shows the relationship between them when there is no
different about their height.
Fig. 8 Influence of difference of height of yoke and magnet
Fig. 9 Influence of thickness of iron material surface
Fig. 10 Influence of thickness of brass block
D. Type B Structure Analysis
1) Influence of Thickness of Iron Material Surface:
Suppose that the thickness of the yoke and the brass block are
8mm and 4mm respectively. In Fig. 9, curve 1 shows the
relationship between the force generated by the permanent
magnetic unit and the air gap at 10mm of thickness of the iron
material surface, and curve 2 shows the relationship between
them at 6mm of thickness of the iron material surface.
2) Influence of Thickness of Brass Block: Suppose that the
thickness of the iron material surface is 10mm. In Fig. 10,
curve 1 shows the relationship between the force generated by
the permanent magnetic unit and the air gap at 4mm of the
thickness of the brass block, and curve 2 shows the
relationship between them at 1.9mm of thickness of the brass
block.
E. Comparison of Two Types
The comparison of two types of structure is shown in Fig.
11. Curve 1 is type A structure, and curve 2 is type B Fig. 13 Permanent magnetic unit with type B structure
structure. If the air gap is smaller than 0.5mm, type A is much
better than type B. However, the force generated by type A
decreases dramatically with the increasing in the air gap. In
our two applications, air gap in one application is around 2.5-
3.0mm, so type B structure is chosen, and air gap in the other
application is around 0.5-1mm, so type A structure is chosen.

Fig. 14 Wall climbing robot for inspecting oil tanks

Fig. 11 Comparison of two types of structure

V. APPLICATION AND EXPERIMENT

By the analysis of the above Section, two different
permanent magnetic units are designed, which are shown in
Fig. 12 and Fig.13, respectively.

Fig. 15 Wall climbing robot for power station

A. Wall climbing robot for inspecting oil tanks

Fig.12 Permanent magnetic unit with type A structure
Those two different permanent magnetic units are
employed in two different applications, that is, the wall
climbing robot for inspecting the oil tanks and the wall
climbing robot with multiple functions for power station.
In this case, the thickness of the oil tank is generally 5-
10mm, the thickness of the yoke and the brass block can be
chosen at 8mm and 4mm, respectively, and the force is bigger
than 176N at 3mm of the air gap. The final size of the
permanent magnetic unit is 55 ×52×28mm3, the weight is
3.5N, and the absorption force is 176N at 3mm of the air gap.
The robot is shown in Fig. 14. This robot can move on the
wall very reliably and safely with payload above 30kg.
B. Wall climbing robot for power station
In this case, the thickness of the water cooling tube wall
in the power station is generally 6-8mm, the thickness of the
yoke can be chosen at 4mm, and the force is bigger than 420N
at 1mm of the air gap. The final size of the permanent
magnetic unit is 30 ×27×20mm3, the weight is 1.46N, and the
absorption force is 420N at 1mm of the air gap. The robot is
shown in Fig. 15. This robot can move on the wall very
reliably and safely with payload above 40kg.

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 V. CONCLUSION [17]T. Kang, H. Kim, T. Son, and H. Choi, “Design of quadruped walking
and climbing robot”, Proceedings 2003 IEEE/RSJ International
This paper presented the design of the permanent Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, vol. 1, pp. 619 – 624,
magnetic system for the wall climbing robot with magnetic October 2003.
[18]M. Almonacid, R. J. Saltaren, R. Aracil, and O. Reinoso, “Motion
adhesion mechanism and tracked driven locomotion planning of a climbing parallel robot”, IEEE Transactions on Robotics
mechanism. The static and dynamic force analysis of the robot and Automation, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 485 – 489, June 2003 .
was given in the paper. Then, two types structure of the [19]M. Abderrahim,C. Balaguer,A. Gimenez,J. M. Pastor,V. M. Padron,
permanent magnetic unit were discussed, including different “ROMA: a climbing robot for inspection operations”, Proceedings 1999
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, vol. 3, pp.
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different magnetic systems were built. Both of them showed [20]Weimin Shen, Jason Gu, Yanjun Shen, “Proposed Wall Climbing Robot
reliability and safety, and they can carry load above 30kg. with Permanent Magnetic Tracks for Inspecting Oil Tanks”, IEEE
International Conference of Mechatronic and Automation”, submitted.
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