1.

0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
Nowadays, mechanical artifacts are commonly found in our daily life. They are currently used in
many fields of applications such as office, hospital operation, industrial automation, military tasks
and security systems. It is not difficult to observe that mechanical designs play an important role in
assisting human tasks.
Stairs are one of the most commonly faced mobility challenges for robotic applications.
With the inspiration from the previous year project, our group has been involved in a project to design
and develop a mechanical stair-climber that can climb up and down the stairs in a stepwise and safe
manner.
In the first part of this chapter, we introduce some solutions to realize stair climbing machines
that we developed. Each of them has good performance as in a category of their kind, e.g.
various numbers of legged and wheeled shapes. Then, we discuss a development of high-grip
crawler, which we think one of the best solutions as the stair climber.
The present project relates to the field of load-carrying equipment of a type that is battery power-
operated, and capable of moving upwardly or downwardly on a flight of stairs.

Fig 1.1 Hand Truck (ref. Wikipedia.com)

Load-carrier is a wheeled-mechanical device, which is generally used to carry loads. It is used to
reduce human efforts. Load-carrier at its inception is a hand-truck.

Fig 1.2 Stair Load Carrier (ref. Wikipedia.com)

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A hand truck, also known as a two wheeler, stack truck, trolley, trolley truck, sack barrow, sack
truck, dolly, or bag barrow, is an L-shaped box-moving handcart with handles at one end, wheels
at the base, with a small ledge to set objects on, flat against the floor when the hand-truck is upright.
The objects to be moved are tilted forward, the ledge is inserted underneath them, and the objects
allowed to tilt back and rest on the ledge. Courtesy: Wikipedia Then the truck and object are tilted
backward until the weight is balanced over the large wheels, making otherwise bulky and heavy
objects easier to move. It is a first-class lever.
After a decade, stair-case climbing load-carrier came into existence which we did in our minor
project. Stair-case climbing load-carrier consists a well-designed frame and a set of wheel clusters.
It is diagrammatically shown below.

Wheels in the hand-truck are replaced by set of wheel clusters. Further if load is increasing, we
can’t offer more pressure beyond our limit. So we incept having mechanized or automated or
powered stair climber to our convenience.
Stair-climbing, like walking on the level, is rhythmical and involves similar joints, muscles and motor
planning.
There will be battery-powered assisted DC motor drives the shaft with wheel clusters at both ends.

1.2 OBJECTIVES
After discussing amongst our group and our supervisor, Mrs. Surbhi Updhaya, the following
objectives were established at the beginning of the project.
I._ To design and manufacture a stair-climber which can climb up and down the stairs of particular
specifications,
II._ To simplify the complex driving mechanisms into a simple electric circuit and develop a controller
to control the movement of the artifact, and
III._ To maintain simplicity of our design throughout the project.

Figure 1.3: PRO-E drawings of the stair-climber

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1.3 PROJECT STATEMENT
1.3.1 PROJECT DELIVERABLES
The following items are delivered at the end of the project.
I._ A mechanical artifact which can demonstrate the design of the stair-climber with an
appropriately developed controller consisting of a simple electric circuit,
II._ Technical data such as data, sketches and diagrams of initial design, CAD and technical
drawings and the Gantt Chart.
III._ A simple webpage to illustrate the content of our project, and
IV. Different forms of multimedia demonstration such as photos, videos, simulations and a
power-point presentation.

1.3.2 MILESTONES
I. The size of the robot must fit those of the stairs; it will not be too large to be accommodated by
each step of the stairs.
II. The width of the robot must be well-defined within a suitable range such that it is zygomorphic
for body balance on both sides. This can be achieved by a symmetric design and positioning of
components.
III. Since the stair-climber will be lifted up to climb the stairs, its weight to be supported must not
be too large such that it will not burden or exhaust the weight supporter, which, most probably,
is the motor. Components must be concisely designed and manufactured with proper materials.
IV. The center of mass is arranged at the front side of the climber (the side ahead when going
upstairs) such that it can facilitate the actions of climbing upstairs and prevent the artifact from
toppling and flipping over when going downstairs.
V. The method of controlling the robot must be well-considered. If a manual approach is
employed, the user must be trained to familiarize with the robot; On the other hand, an
automatic robot will involve the use of a digital computer such as the Programmable Logic
Controller (PLC) for the purpose.

1.3.4 LIMITS AND EXCLUSIONS

I. The stair-climber can only climb the stairs with specifications similar to
those in Industrial Center.
II. Dry cells are used to deliver DC currents and they will be easily
exhausted by the two heavily-loaded motors.
III. It is confessed that the disassembly of the artifact can cause extreme
inconvenience in case of maintenance.

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2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

The research and analysis of motorized wheelchairs dates back in time with several scientists and
researchers evaluating the stair climbing mechanism.

2.1 JOURNALS
Ghani et al [1] investigate the control of a stair climbing wheelchair used for indoor purposes. This
paper evaluates different stair climbing mechanisms viz crawler type, leg type, hybrid type and
wheeled type. The model of a stair climbing wheelchair based on four wheels is generated
using PRO-E and NXcad design software. Various forces and torques acting on the wheelchair
while climbing the stairs are evaluated. Preferably, the outer support assembly comprises
wheels on either side of the chair. An inner support assembly, closer to the centerline of
the chair, also supports the seat assembly.

Franco et al [2] did work related to development of a stair climbing wheelchair that can move in
structured and unstructured environments, climbing over obstacles and going up and down
stairs. The wheelchair design is vividly elaborated. The wheelchair consists of a frame, seat and a
linkage mechanism connecting the same. The frame consists of a chassis embedded with two
motorized locomotion units, a support for two electrical gear-motors, two idle triple wheels
units and a battery pack. The seat is a tubular structure that consists of a chair and a
pivoting wheel. The linkage mechanism is responsible for relative motion between frame and
seat during stair climbing operation. To successfully climb the stairs, it is required to move
the seat backwards, then reorient it and finally lift up the pivoting wheel. When the seat is
moved backwards, the center of mass of the wheelchair shifts to a safe position, and toppling is thus
prevented. A four bar linkage is appointed for the same. The linkage mechanism is actuated by a
mini-motor connected to a lead screw device. When the seat reaches the desired position the motor
is turned off and no extra energy is required to maintain the position. The customer
requirements were studied and evaluated after referring them from the DLF (Disabled Living
Foundation) factsheet. The factsheet aptly outlines what the user needs, wheelchair features,
preliminary considerations before buying a wheelchair, wheelchair controls, how to negotiate
curbs, specifications of batteries and chargers, special features of motorized wheelchairs,
accessories of different types of wheelchairs as well as about insurance and customer
requirements.

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Murray., [3] has elaborated the background as well as recent developments in mobility
assistive mechanisms while discussing the relative importance of stairs and wheels. These
various types include mobility scooters, track based stair climbers, clustered wheel concept and
caterpillar wheel based devices. A mechanism is proposed which is based on the use of four wheels.
The rear wheels are autonomously driven and front wheels are freewheeling castors. This
proposed concept is numerically modeled and power calculations for linear actuator are made.
Stair ascent and stair descent operations are described along with figures and equations. The
control system and the stair edge sensor system are also investigated. The stepping algorithm is
discussed in detail. The influence of external factors like cost, weight, aesthetics, range of operation,
safety, operational efficiency, comfort are evaluated. The track based stair climber is also
analyzed similarly.

Lockton [4] discusses the retro fitting of electric power into manual wheelchairs. The existing
products and configurations are reviewed in a comparative table. Various product specifications are
categorized and briefly described. These include control devices, drives, steering and position.
Various configurations viz Twin-wheeled drive, rear-mounted, with differential steering,
Single-wheeled drive, rear-mounted, with steering ahead of the wheel, single-wheeled drive,
rear-mounted, with steering above the wheel, Single-wheeled drive, rear-mounted, with nutation
steering and Single-wheeled drive, front-mounted, with handlebar/articulated steering are
evaluated. The motors, mechanics, control technology and usability are investigated for the
above mentioned combinations.

Peizer et al [6] have investigated and summarized the evolution of wheelchairs over five years.
Anthropometric parameters required to be considered for the design of seat ergonomically,
a book on Indian anthropometric dimensions by Prof. D.K.Chakraborty is referred. Necessary
measurements and data have been collected from Indian Anthropometric Design.

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2.2 DC MOTOR
Electrical motors are everywhere around us. Almost all the electro-mechanical movements we see
around us are caused either by an A.C. or a DC motor. Here we will be exploring this kind of motors.
This is a device that converts DC electrical energy to a mechanical energy.
Principle of DC Motor:
This DC or direct current motor works on the principal, when a current carrying conductor is placed
in a magnetic field, it experiences a torque and has a tendency to move. This is known as motoring
action. If the direction of current in the wire is reversed, the direction of rotation also reverses. When
magnetic field and electric field interact they produce a mechanical force, and based on that the
working principle of dc motor established.

2.3 THE FULL WAVE RECTIFIER

In the previous Power Diodes tutorial we discussed ways of reducing the ripple or voltage variations
on a direct DC voltage by connecting capacitors across the load resistance. While this method may
be suitable for low power applications it is unsuitable to applications which need a “steady and
smooth” DC supply voltage. One method to improve on this is to use every half-cycle of the input
voltage instead of every other half-cycle. The circuit which allows us to do this is called a Full Wave
Rectifier.
Like the half wave circuit, a Full Wave Rectifier Circuit produces an output voltage or current which
is purely DC or has some specified DC component. Full wave rectifiers have some fundamental
advantages over their half wave rectifier counterparts. The average (DC) output voltage is higher
than for half wave, the output of the full wave rectifier has much less ripple than that of the half wave
rectifier producing a smoother output waveform.
In a Full Wave Rectifier circuit two diodes are now used, one for each half of the cycle. A multiple
winding transformer is used whose secondary winding is split equally into two halves with a common
centre tapped connection, ©. This configuration results in each diode conducting in turn when its
anode terminal is positive with respect to the transformer centre point C producing an output during
both half-cycles, twice that for the half wave rectifier so it is 100% efficient as shown below.
Full Wave Rectifier Circuit

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 Fig. 2.1 Full Wave Rectifier Circuit

The full wave rectifier circuit consists of two power diodes connected to a single load resistance (RL)
with each diode taking it in turn to supply current to the load. When point A of the transformer is
positive with respect to point C, diode D1 conducts in the forward direction as indicated by the
arrows.
When point B is positive (in the negative half of the cycle) with respect to point C, diode D2 conducts
in the forward direction and the current flowing through resistor R is in the same direction for both
half-cycles. As the output voltage across the resistor R is the phasor sum of the two waveforms
combined, this type of full wave rectifier circuit is also known as a “bi-phase” circuit.

As the spaces between each half-wave developed by each diode is now being filled in by the other
diode the average DC output voltage across the load resistor is now double that of the single half-
wave rectifier circuit and is about 0.637Vmax of the peak voltage, assuming no losses.

Where: VMAX is the maximum peak value in one half of the secondary winding and VRMS is the
rms value.
The peak voltage of the output waveform is the same as before for the half-wave rectifier provided
each half of the transformer windings have the same rms voltage value. To obtain a different DC
voltage output different transformer ratios can be used. The main disadvantage of this type of full
wave rectifier circuit is that a larger transformer for a given power output is required with two

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separate but identical secondary windings making this type of full wave rectifying circuit costly
compared to the “Full Wave Bridge Rectifier” circuit equivalent.
The Full Wave Bridge Rectifier
Another type of circuit that produces the same output waveform as the full wave rectifier circuit
above, is that of the Full Wave Bridge Rectifier. This type of single phase rectifier uses four individual
rectifying diodes connected in a closed loop “bridge” configuration to produce the desired output.
The main advantage of this bridge circuit is that it does not require a special centre tapped
transformer, thereby reducing its size and cost. The single secondary winding is connected to one
side of the diode bridge network and the load to the other side as shown below.
The Diode Bridge Rectifier

Fig. 2.2 The Diode Bridge Rectifier

The four diodes labelled D1 to D4 are arranged in “series pairs” with only two diodes conducting
current during each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the supply, diodes D1 and D2conduct
in series while diodes D3 and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through the load as shown
below.
The Positive Half-cycle

Fig.2.3 The Positive Half-cycle

During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but diodes D1
andD2 switch “OFF” as they are now reverse biased. The current flowing through the load is the
same direction as before.
The Negative Half-cycle
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 Fig. 2.4 The Negative Half-cycle

As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage developed across the load
is also unidirectional the same as for the previous two diode full-wave rectifier, therefore the average
DC voltage across the load is 0.637Vmax.

Fig.2.5 Typical Bridge Rectifier

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3.0 PROBLEM DEFINITION
The main focus of this project revolves around the providing a personal means of negotiating stairs,
the first question that must be considered is why stairs are used. Stairs provide means of ascent or
descent. What alternatives are there to stairs? In terms of passive means slopes are the primary
alternative. When considering powered assistive mechanisms such as escalators or lifts the range
of alternatives is greater.
The advantage of a slope (4.8 degrees maximum for manual wheelchair) is that it does not
significantly impede access to wheeled vehicles or most walking assistive devices. However the two
inherent disadvantages of a slope are the space used compared to a set of stairs and the
requirement that sufficient traction is present.
Firstly regarding space requirements. The conversion to, or addition of slopes (ramps) to existing
architecture is typically very costly and often negatively impacts the architecture with regard to
functionality (waste space) and aesthetics. In the case of a multi-level building a ramp is usually not
feasible.
For example a 4.8 degree ramp providing access between floors (typically2.7m) would require 32.5
meters of ramp. Assuming a ramp width of 90cm this would require29.5 square meters of floor area,
excluding access, exit and turning areas. The space required by a standard (26cm tread, 18cm rise)
stairway in the same situation would be 3.5 square meters, an8.4 magnitude of spatial efficiency.
This comparison is illustrated in Fig.3.1 and Fig. 3.2.

350 90cm

130cm
Fig.3.1: Anatomy of a typical stair (step height – riser 18cm, step depth – tread 26cm)

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 4.80 90cm
1092cm

Fig.3.2: a slope suitable for a manually propelled wheelchair

Stairs climbing is a frequent occurrence within daily life, but the percentage of tripping and falling
event on stairs is quite high). Attention to the design of stairs cannot be expected to eliminate all of
these incidents because many are related to inattention or risk taking behavior. However, good
design can reduce the potential for miss stepping or provide a person about to fall with a way to
retrieve balance. Many aspects of stairway design have been identified as important to safe stairway
use including: inclination, stair riser height and uniformity, tread depth and width, tread overhang
and configuration, lighting, vista, approaches, landings, surface materials and handrails. Designs
that are pleasing to the eye may be hazardous because they do not take into account normal walking
gait or expected step height. Authors have been developing various kinds of stair climbers,
considering how to make its climbing ability higher and its mechanical complexity reasonable and
practical.

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4.0 PRELIMINARY DESIGN
4.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the customer requirements are identified at the beginning. Their needs are
consequently interpreted in engineering terms and a list of preliminary design specifications is
established. Simultaneously, the project flow for the design and manufacturing phase will be
discussed.

4.2 PRODUCT DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

The engineering requirements are further comprehended to generate a list of product design
specifications which are concluded in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1: Product Design Specifications of the stair-climber
1.Functional Performance
I. Movement:
A.The vertical displacement of the robot will be more than 0.2 m for climbing up and down
each step of stairs.
B.The horizontal displacement of the robot will be more than 0.2 m for climbing up and down
each step of stairs.
C.The movement of the robot will be stable and consistent.
D.The safety factor is assigned to be 1.2.
II.Power source:
DC motors with working voltage of 6 V – 12 V will be selected.
III.Material selection:
A.The solid base will be manufactured with alloy steels such as wood.
B.The tyre will be manufactured with aluminum.
2.Physical Requirements
I.Size:
A. The outermost dimensions of the stair climber will be less than width: 15 inch;
length:24inch.
B. The size of the stair climber will not affect its movements.
II. Weight:
As suggested by our supervisor, the total weight of the robot must not exist 2 kg such that
the mechanical motion drivers will not be overloaded easily.

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4.3 PROJECT FLOW
The flow of the project will be split into the two for the design phase and the manufacturing phase
respectively.

4.3.1 THE DESIGN STAGE

Fig. 4.1: The flow of the design stage

The flow of the design stage will begin with a well-planned schedule. After that, a brain-storming
process will be employed to generate a list of conceptual solutions with relevant sketches and
descriptions. With the help of some decision tools, the final design of the stair-climbing robot can be
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developed and CAD software such as SolidWorks will be employed for simulating the design. The
material for each component will be decided such that the Bill of Materials (BOM) can be built for
making corresponding purchase from retailers. The manufacturing stage can then begin

4.3.2 THE MANUFACTURING STAGE

Fig. 4.2: The flow of the manufacturing stage

The manufacturing phase will be divided into two groups at the beginning, namely the marking out
of different components and the design and testing of the circuit. Once they have been finished, the
stair-climbing robot can be assembled and consequently tested for functionality. If it cannot climb
upstairs and downstairs successfully, its design has to be modified for further testing until successful
performance can be observed.

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5.0 CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of the design stage, our group searched for existing methods for climbing stairs
through the Internet. Several of them were deliberately observed and analyzed and some
conceptual designs were generated through constructing a simple mind-map. Functions and criteria
will be defined and put into the decision matrix to select viable designs while the Pugh’s Method will
be used to weigh and combine viable features for the final design.

5.2 THE MIND MAP

As a mechanical design project, some important aspects must be deliberately considered such as
the motion drivers and transmitters, actions to climb the stairs and the methods of manufacturing
and control the robotic motions. eDrawMindMap®, a software that is designed to develop detailed
and easy-to-read mind map, is utilized for this purpose.

Fig. 5.1: The Mind Map constructed with the use of eDrawMindMap

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5.3 STAIR CLIMBING TECHNIQUES
The following are the familiar stair-case climbing techniques.
1. Tri-Star Wheel Arrangement
2. Track Based Stair-Climbers(Tank type)
3. The “Robotic Human”
4. The Multiple-rack-and-wheel Car
5. The Climbing Dog

5.3.1.TRI-STAR WHEEL ARRANGEMENT

The “Tri-Star wheel” Car
A stair climbing system can be achieved by the continuous rotation of a “Tri-Star” arrangement of
the wheels. Three wheels are arranged in an upright triangle. The Tri-Star wheels are free to rotate
and belt is used to bring motions to the wheels. Such a system can overcome rough surfaces in
outdoor area.
The working mechanism of this proposed involves much in the rotation of a three-legged wheel
holder, with a motor-driven wheel at each end. When it climbs up a step of the stair, the holder will
touches the edge of the stair and rotate. The motioning wheels can grip on the surface of the next
step of the stair and climb upward. The working mechanism for climbing downstairs is the reverse
of that for upstairs.

Fig. 5.2: A Tri -Star wheel assembly rotating through a hole

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 Fig. 5.3: Simulation of the movement of the “Tri­Star Wheel” Car when
moving upstairs and downstairs
5.3.2. TRACK BASED STAIR-CLIMBERS(TANK TYPE)

A modern single tracked fully autonomous stair-climber and powered wheelchair is shown
in Fig. 3.4(a) and a platform used to carry a wheelchair and user up or down stairs is shown
in Fig. 3.4(b). The central advantage of the use of tracks is the independence or robustness
regarding the type of stair or surface being negotiated. Disadvantages of track based
operation include the high pressure exerted on the stair edges therefore limiting use to stairs
with appropriately robust leading edges. To overcome this problem we use sand packets
,these packets adjust according to stair and make more grip with the stairs.

Fig. 5.4 Modern single track based stair-climbers

Fig. 5.5: Simulation of the movement of the Tank

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5.3.3. THE “ROBOTIC HUMAN”
Similar to human structures, the design of the robot makes use of two “legs” which can step on the
stairs. It consists of two separate linkages; each consists of two parts, namely the “thigh” and the
“shank”, and they imitate human motions to step on the stairs when traveling up and down the stairs.

Fig. 5.6: Simulation of the movement of the “Robotic Human”

5.3.4. THE MULTIPLE-RACK-AND-WHEEL CAR

In this design, three racks are involved in the mechanism of the robot. Two wheels are mounted at
one end of the each rack. One motor with a set of gears are used for the motions of all the wheels.
The wheels control the movement of the robot on the floor, while each rack is controlled by one
motor for elevation. The working mechanism is that the front rack elevates and the robot will move
near the stair until the middle rack touches the step. The elevated front rack will then lower to land
on the next step. Such a procedure would then be repeated until all the racks can advance to the
next step and the robot can then move forward for another elevation. The downstairs motion can be
regarded as the complete reverse of that of traveling upstairs.

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 Fig. 5.7: Simulation of the movement of the
Multiple-rack-and-wheel car when climbing upstairs and
Downstairs

5.3.5. THE CLIMBING DOG

The design imitates the motions of dogs. It consists of four pairs of “legs” and each of them is driven
by an independent motor so that they can “poke” on the ground. Furthermore, there are two
additional racks to lift the machine upwards, and it can climb to the next step together with the
“poking” motion of the legs. To climb the stairs, it will make use of the reverse of exactly the same
set of actions.

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Fig5.8: Simulation of the movement of the
Climbing dog when climbing upstairs and
Downstairs

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The advantages and disadvantages of different conceptual designs can be summarized in the
following table.

Table 5.1: The advantage and disadvantage of different conceptual designs

Advantage Disadvantage

1.Simple mechanical design Wheel size increases for higher steps

2.Stable

1. Stable 1.4 motors are required

2. Balanced 2.Complicated gear arrangement

1.Not easy to flip over Cannot be driven by 4 motors

2.Can turn to side

1.Great speed Complex mechanical design

2.Great stability
3.Flexibility to run on any type of
surface
1.Unstable
2.Difficult to balance

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 5.4 THE DECISION MATRIX
After generate 5 different conceptual designs, a simple decision matrix is utilized to screen,
and select viable design features for the final design.
Table 5.2: The decision matrix

Mechanical
0 - + - +
complexity
Chance of
- + - + -
success
Endurance - 0 + + -
Stability + + + + -
Ease of control + 0 - + -
Cost + - - - 0
Difficulty in
+ + + - -
Manufacture
Maintenance 0 0 + + 0
Safety 0 + 0 + -
Sum of + 4 4 5 6 1
Sum of – 2 2 3 3 6
Net Score 2 2 2 3 -5
Ranking 2 2 2 1 5

Observing and analyzing the results from the decision matrix, it can be found that the concept of the
track based stair climberrank the highest. Their features can be combined for the final design, which
involves the use of both wheels and tracks for motions, moves in a more stable manner and has a
higher chance of being successful.

The idea of imitating the “Tri­Star” wheels, the multiple-rack-and-wheel car and the climbing dog is
not employed for its difficulty in manufacturing and mechanical complexity, while those of the robotic
human are its instability and safety.

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6 DETAILED DESIGN
6.1ADVANTAGES OF CRAWLER TYPE VEHICLES IN PRACTICAL USE
Through from above mentioned various types of researches, we believe one of the realistic solution
which the robots should support and help human tasks in our daily lives is to carry heavy baggage
especially by wheeled or crawler type climbers. Because wheeled or crawler type vehicles have
much more payload capacity than legged-walking robots have. Therefore, when carrying heavy
objects, a cart is useful only on flat ground, and the load must be carried up or down stairs by hand.
Conventional approaches to transporting heavy loads on the stairs have yet to be developed.
Moreover, humans themselves sometimes require assistance in traversing stairs. Mobile robots
require the ability to move with versatility, smoothly and with high efficiency in various environments.
Robots with high mobility can easily be used in rescue operations as the robot can move over
irregular terrain of collapsed and destroyed buildings.
In our living environment, the most difficult artificial obstacles to move over are stairs. There have
been many studies to improve the ability to traverse stairs using legged-type, crawler-type and
wheeled-type robots that have special shapes. Among these mobile robots, crawler-type and
wheeled-type robots are easier to control and so there are many examples, including crawlers with
attached grousers (Hirose et al. 1989; Hirose et al., 1990; Hirose et al., 1992), crawlers for rescue
operations (Takayama et al., 2000; Granosik et al., 2005; Liu et al., 2005; Arai et al., 2006; Tanaka
et al., 2006; Miyanaka et al., 2007), wheels with coil springs (Hirose et al., 1991), special tires
(Uchida et al., 1999; Uchida et al., 2000), and legs that rotate along wheels (Taguchi et al., 1995;
Schempf et al., 1999).
In the present research, our goal is to design a practical vehicle to obtain high terrain adaptability
and mobility in the human living environment, especially to traverse stairs or steps. Experimental
results revealed that the characteristics of the material that composes the face of the crawler belt
affect the grip force. In the present research, a tracked climber vehicle with powder-filled belts
carrying heavy loads is proposed and developed, and the efficiency and practical applicability of the
proposed tracked climber vehicle are verified.

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6.2 COMPARISON OF A CRAWLER WITH RIGID GROUSERS AND WITH SOFT
DEFORMATION BELTS
A previous crawler was equipped with grousers in order to obtain a certain grip force on stairs.
Grousers work very well when the crawler moves over sand or mud, and such crawlers can support
heavy loads. However, in the case of traversing stairs or steps, such crawlers have a number of
disadvantages, as described below.

1. The intervals of the grousers and the steps do not generally coincide. Thus, the crawler is
held by only one grouser on one crawler belt, as shown in Figure 6.1. Carrying heavy loads with this
gripping grouser causes the vehicle to vibrate and may destroy the stair edge. Gripping force is lost
easily after the stair edge is destroyed or one of the grousers becomes caught on an obstacle on
the stairs. These phenomena reduce the vehicle’s stability and safety, and thus these should be
avoided.
2. Slippage may occur when the crawler descends the stairs. When ascending the stairs, the
crawler belt simply spins until the grouser touches the step. However, when descending the stairs,
the crawler moves forward, down the stairs, even when the grousers do not catch a step.
3. A grouser that has caught a step moves backward as the crawler moves forward up the stairs,
as shown in Figure 6.2. The grouser leaves the step when the grouser comes to the end of crawler.
In this situation, other grousers may not necessarily be touching the next step. Therefore, the crawler
may slip down or spin off the belt until another grouser catches the next step.
4. If it does not climb the stairs in a straight path, the crawler may not obtain sufficient grip force
because the grousers, which have a wide structure for easy attachment to the crawler belt, would
touch the stair edges at an angle. This would hamper the mobility of the crawler when adjusting the
trajectory to the right or to the left when climbing stairs.

These disadvantages can be partially solved by arranging the grousers in shorter intervals.
However, as shown in Figure 6.3, grousers arranged in short intervals do not have large support
areas. Furthermore, if the intervals between the grousers become shorter, the ability to climb stairs
in non-straight trajectories becomes worse, thus increasing the consequences of the fourth
disadvantage.
As shown in Figure 6.4, deforming the crawler belt adaptively to the stairs to obtain a grip force from
all of the steps appears to be an effective method by which to address these disadvantages.
Supporting the crawler at several points prevents slippage accidents caused by the lack of stair
edges or by an obstacle becoming caught between the stairs and the crawler belt. In addition, by

33
changing the support points when the vehicle is moving also avoids a freely spinning belt. The
required grip force at each grip point is far smaller than in the case of only one grip point.
To obtain a grip force from each step as described above, a rubber material with a large friction
coefficient can be easily attached to the face of the crawler belt. However, this method is not
necessarily practical for versatile application. For example, outdoor stairs with rounded edges, stairs
with metallic edges that have a low coefficient of friction, oily stairs in factories or stairs covered by
fallen leaves or dust may cause slippage. In such environments, a greater grip force may be
obtained by making a ditch on the belt at the edges of the steps so that the crawler belt will match
the stair edge shape and the effectiveness of the crawler will not depend on the friction at the face
of the belt. Aligning materials with soft deformation characteristics to the face of the crawler belt is
considered to be an effective and practical method by which to achieve these characteristics.

Fig. 6.1. Grouser-attached stair-climbing crawler

Fig. 6.2. Slippage problem of the grouser-attached stair-climbing crawler

34
 Fig. 6.3. New concept of stair-climbing crawler

6.3 BLOCKS FILLED WITH POWDER AND COMPARISON OF THE

CHARACTERISTICS OF MATERIALS
6.3.1 BLOCKS FILLED WITH POWDER
Usually, rubber or a urethane sponge (which have soft deformation characteristics) are used as the
track material, as mentioned earlier. However, as shown in Figure 16, we have developed special
blocks that attach to the crawler belt and rely on the deformation characteristics of fluids. Tubes with
durability and flexibility are filled with powder and the edges of the tubes are bent for the purpose of
attachment to the crawler belt. In the present study, flour is used as the powder. Sand was also
found to be an effective powder. A fire hose is used as the tube material. The hose is turned inside
out so that the cloth side faces inward and the resinous side faces outward. There is room for
improvement in the durability and water-resistance of these materials.
Next, a comparison of the characteristics between the developed blocks filled with powder and the
previous soft materials will be performed. Furthermore, the suitability of materials for the crawler belt
for a stair-climbing crawler is examined.

Fig. 6.4. Powder-filled block

6.3.2 FRICTION CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH BLOCK
For measuring the characteristics of the face material used for the crawler belt of a stairclimbing
crawler, the experimental device shown in Figure 6.5 was prepared. An aluminum block acts as a
stair edge and presses against the measured soft material, applying a sideways force. First, the
relationship between vertical force and vertical deformation when the experimental edge is pressed
was measured. Next, for measuring the grip ability against the stair edge, vertical and horizontal
forces were measured when slight slippage occurred due to a horizontal force during vertical
loading. The equivalent frictional coefficient for each vertical loading is calculated as:

EquivalentFriction coefficient =Horizontal Load (Grip Force)/ Vertical Load

35
The equivalent frictional coefficient is measured for cases of increasing vertical load and decreasing
vertical load from the maximum load because of the hysteresis characteristics of the materials. The
measured materials were the newly developed powder-filled block, a urethane rubber block with
approximately the same vertical deformation, a urethane rubber block in the tube used in the newly
developed powder-filled block, and the tube itself. The size of these experimental materials is the
same as that of the powder-filled block, as shown in Figure 5 (90L × 50W × 30H, 100 g). In order to
examine the change in the characteristics with the diameter of the powder, the blocks were filled
with aluminum balls of 3 mm in diameter and plastic balls of 6 mm in diameter.

Fig. 6.5. Experimental system (ref: www.intechopen.com)

6.4 MEASUREMENT RESULTS OF DEFORMATION

First, the results of a comparison of the deformation between the urethane rubber block and the
powder-filled block are shown in Figure 6.6. The same deformation characteristics are observed
with an increasing vertical load. However, with a decreasing vertical load, the powder-filled blocks
retain their previous deformation, whereas the urethane rubber blocks do not. Next, the results of a
comparison of the deformation for different types of powder are shown in Figure 6.7. This
comparison includes the powder-filled block, and the blocks contained 3 mm aluminum balls and 6
mm plastic balls. The results show that the blocks had approximately the same characteristics in
each case of increasing and decreasing loads, whereas the maximum deformations differed.
Moreover, the results reveal that the blocks have large hysteresis characteristics in common.

36
20 Powder-filled block

10

Urethane rubber

0 200 400 600 800 1000

Load [N]

Fig. 6.6. Characteristics of block deformations (ref: www.intechopen.com)

Plastic balls of 6 [mm] in block

20
Powder-filled block

10

Aluminum balls of 3 [mm] in block

0 200 400 600 800 1000

Load [N]

Fig. 6.7. Comparison of deformation with inner particle size (ref: www.intechopen.com)

37
After several experiments as shown in above fig. 6.5 , the following results were obtained.

1.Sand can generate large friction forces.

2.The 3 mm diameter aluminum ball can also can generate large friction forces, but is also heavy
(150 g) and very expensive.
3.Plastic balls or rice, which is fragile, cannot maintain their frictional performance because the
characteristics of the particles change as they break into smaller particles.
4.The sack should be composed of a non-expandable material.

6.5 MOTOR SELECTION

6.5.1 REQUIREMENTS
Before selecting an adequate motor for the robot, some assumptions are made and listed as
follow:
I. The total weight of the robotic climber is about 3-5 kg.
II. The safety factor is 1.2.
III. The efficiency of selected motor nearly attains 100%.
IV. The friction between the gears is negligible.
4.4.2 Specifications of the Selected Motor
Model: M1WA
Power: 20 Watts/0.05 HP
Voltage: 24V DC
Speed: 5 RPM
Current: 0.4 AMPS

6.6 CONTROL SYSTEM

In the design of our product, we decided that we use wired controller without sensor. Therefore,
we have to provide instruction to the robotic climber to move up-down and forward-backward
through the controller. Moreover, since we learned to use electric circuit to control a system, we
decided to use the knowledge got from the lessons to complete the project. The followings are the
required specification of our controller.
I. Wired with the robotic climber and the controller
II. Able to move on two planes
III. With electric circuit acting as control system
IV. With two switches to control directions
V. With one main switch to manage the power supply

38
From specification 1, the wires connecting controller and the robot should be long enough. From
specification 2 and 4, since there might be large power consumption for batteries, two specific
batteries for power supply were needed in the circuit. Moreover, one switch must fully control a
linear direction. From specification 5, without the one main switch turned to be “on”, there is no
power supply no main which status of the linear switches are. In conclude, we designed an electric
circuit as below:

Fig.6.8: The electric circuit of the controller

39
7.0 MANUFACTURING PHASE
7.1 INTROCUTION
After the complete development of the design, the manufacturing stage will begin. In this chapter,
we shall discuss the selection of materials for manufacturing different components. The reasons
for choosing a particular manufacturing process will also be explained. More importantly, the
problems that were encountered during this stage and their corresponding remedy actions and the
make-and-buy decision will be discussed.

7.2 MATERIAL SELECTION

It was anticipated that our stair-climbing robot would be suffering vigorous impact during testing
and demonstrations so careful selection for materials used in production was very crucial. We
wanted to ensure the robot’s materials were strong and durable enough to endure the hard
collision during travel, and, at the same time, light in weight to lessen the burden taken by the
robot so that the motors’ torques required could be reduced. Thus the safety factors of the motors’
performances were increased.
After comprehensive discussion on the robot design and its components’ material requirement,
the selection process was completed.

7.3 PROCESS SELECTION

7.3.1 LATHING AND MILLING
A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the work piece on its axis to perform various operations
such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation, facing, turning, with tools that are
applied to the work piece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.
It is one of the most commonly used processes in industry and machine shops today for
machining parts to precise sizes and shapes. Milling can be done with a wide range of machine
tools. The original class of machine tools for milling was the milling machine (often called a mill).
The lathing and milling is done in our project to manufacture it`s wheel. We make groves and
holes in wheels by using lathe.

Fig. :Lathe

40
7.3.2 DRILLING
Drilling is a cutting process that uses a drill bit to cut or enlarge a hole of circular cross-section in
solid materials. The drill bit is a rotary cutting tool, often multipoint. The bit is pressed against the
workpiece and rotated at rates from hundreds to thousands of revolutions per minute.
It is a process that drills holes to allow screw to be set and combine two parts together during
assembly.

Fig. :Hand drill

7.3.3 CONTROLLER
Completion of controller includes electric circuit developed and soldered. By using switch, the
current can be changed to-and-fro which enables our motor to rotate clockwise and anti-clockwise.

Initially, the circuit was designed with more than 10wires passing through the controller. By further
investigation, the circuit can be said to be simpler and easier to develop with 4wires passing
through 1switch which in total 8wires passing through the controller.

7.3.4 ASSEMBLY AND REMEDY

As the design was just assembled and simulated on software like SolidWorks at design stage,
there were many uncertainties.
There were a lot of problems and imperfect when it came to reality assembling. We found that the
friction was not large enough to support the robot when it climbed up the stairs. After analysis and
review, we decided to add a support at the base of the rack and gasket was installed in order to
increase the friction.
41
General speaking, the whole project took us about 2weeks to manufacture and fabricate parts
and components with a sufficient time of 1 week to assemble, problem findings with suitable
modification

7.4 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND REMEDY ACTIONS

7.4.1 BROKEN CUTTING TOOL
Originally, CNC machine was considered to be used for cutting the grooves on wheel. It was
because the groove is very deep and narrow, manual controlled lathe machine was not suggested
to be used. However, the tool was broken during the cutting process. The groove cannot be cut
properly.
7.4.2 UNCERTAINTIES IN SEVERAL WORKSHOPS
For several workshops, they had trainings for other universities’ students, which was unexpected
when planning for our working schedule. In addition, some of the machine’s parts were out of
order, so that we could not finish some parts on time.
7.4.3 FAIL TO CLIMB THE STAIRS
After assembly, testing for the stair climber immediately took place so that we had time for making
some changes and improvement. However, we found that the stair climber was failed to climb the
stair.
7.4.4 SHIFTING OF THE CENTER OF MASS
After several changes during the manufacturing stage, the center of mass of the stair climber
shifted backward and was different from our original design draw in the SolidWorks. In addition,
the center of mass located by SolidWorks was not the accurate because the weight of the motors
had variation between real one and the one in drawing.

In order to deal with this problem, a counter mass was added on the front part of the casing so that
the center of mass could shift to a more preferable place so as to enhance the continuous stair
climbing process.

42
8.1 DESIGN IN SOFTWARE

Fig. 8.1 Complete design of stair climber

43
Fig. 8.2 ( a) Belt Design (b) Sensitivity Analysis (c) Static analysis Belt

44
 Fig. 8.3 Tyre

Fig. 8.4 Base frame

45
8.2 DESIGN OF STAIR CLIMBER

46
9.0 Calculation/Findings
9.1 Torque calculation
When selecting drive wheel motors for mobile vehicles, a number of factors must be taken into
account to determine the maximum torque required. The following presents one method of
computing this torque.
Vehicle design criteria:
▪ Gross vehicle weight (GVW): 33.07 lb
▪ Weight on each drive wheel (WW): 10 lb
▪ Radius of wheel/tire (Rw): 1.15 in
▪ Desired top speed (Vmax): .0499 ft/sec=5rpm
▪ Desired acceleration time (ta): 1 sec
▪ Maximum incline angle (α): 40 degree
To choose motors capable of producing enough torque to propel the example vehicle, it is
necessary to determine the total tractive effort (TTE) requirement for the vehicle:
TTE [lb] = RR [lb] + GR [lb] + FA [lb]
Where:
TTE = total tractive effort [lb]
RR = force necessary to overcome rolling resistance [lb]
GR = force required to climb a grade [lb]
FA = force required to accelerate to final velocity [lb]

The components of this equation will be determined in the following steps.

Step One: Determine Rolling Resistance
Rolling Resistance (RR) is the force necessary to propel a vehicle over a particular surface. The
worst possible surface type to be encountered by the vehicle should be factored into the equation.
RR [lb] = GVW [lb] x Crr [-]
Where
Crr = surface friction (value from Table 9.1)
RR = 33.07 lb x 0.02 = 0..66 lb

47
 Table 9.1: Rolling Resistance
Contact Surface Crr
Concrete (good / fair / .010 / .015
poor) /.020
Asphalt (good / fair / .012 / .017 /
poor) .022
Macadam .015 / .022 /
(good/fair/poor) .037
Snow (2 inch / 4 inch) .025 / .037
Dirt (smooth / sandy) .025 / .037
Mud (firm / medium / .037 / .090 /
soft) .150
Grass (firm / soft) .055 / .075
Sand (firm / soft / dune) .060 / .150 /
.300

Step Two: Determine Grade Resistance

Grade Resistance (GR) is the amount of force necessary to move a vehicle up a slope or “grade”.
This calculation must be made using the maximum angle or grade the vehicle will be expected to
climb in normal operation.
To convert incline angle, α, to grade resistance:
GR [lb] = GVW [lb] x sin(α)
GR = 33.07 lb x sin(40°) = 21.26 lb
Step Three: Determine Acceleration Force
Acceleration Force (FA) is the force necessary to accelerate from a stop to maximum speed in a
desired time.
FA [lb] = GVW [lb] x Vmax [ft/s] / (32.2 [ft/s2] x ta [s])
FA = 33.07 lb x .0499 ft/s / (32.2 ft/s2 x 1 s) = .051 lb
Step Four: Determine Total Tractive Effort
The Total Tractive Effort (TTE) is the sum of the forces calculated in steps 1, 2, and 3. (On higher
speed vehicles friction in drive components may warrant the addition of 10%-15% to the total
tractive
effort to ensure acceptable vehicle performance.)
TTE [lb] = RR [lb] + GR [lb] + FA [lb]
TTE = 0.66 lb + 21.26 lb + .051 lb = 21.971 lb

48
Step Five: Determine Wheel Motor Torque
To verify the vehicle will perform as designed in regards to tractive effort and acceleration, it is
necessary to calculate the required wheel torque (Tw) based on the tractive effort.
Tw [lb-in] = TTE [lb] x Rw [in] x RF [-]
where:
Tw = wheel torque [lb-in]
RF = “resistance” factor [-]
The “resistance factor” accounts for the frictional losses between the caster wheels and their axles
and the drag on the motor bearings. Typical values range between 1.1 and 1.15 (or 10 to 15%).
Tw = 21.971 lb x 1.15 in x 1.1 = 29.06 lb-in=3.28 N-m
Step Six: Reality Check
The final step is to verify the vehicle can transmit the required torque from the drive wheel(s) to the
ground. The maximum tractive torque (MTT) a wheel can
transmit is equal to the normal load times the friction coefficient between the wheel and the ground
times the radius of the drive wheel.
MTT = Ww [lb] x μ [-] x Rw
MTT = 10 lb x 0.6 x 1.15 in = 6.9 lb-in=.78N-m
Interpreting Results:
Total Tractive Effort is the net horizontal force applied by the drive wheels to the ground. If the
design has two drive wheels, the force applied per drive wheel (for straight travel) is half of the
calculated TTE.
The Wheel Torque calculated in Step Five is the total wheel torque. This quantity does not change
with the number of drive wheels. The sum of the individual drive motor torques (see Motor
Specifications) must be greater than or equal to the computed Wheel Torque.
The Maximum Tractive Torque represents the maximum amount of torque that can be applied
before slipping occurs for each drive wheel. The total wheel torque calculated in Step Five must be
less than the sum of the Maximum Tractive Torques for all drive wheels or slipping will occur.
Estimating Parameters
For these calculations to be meaningful, appropriate parameters should be chosen. Typical ranges
for robot designs are provided below. Note an appropriate acceleration time must be chosen such
that the required
Tw < MTT × number of drive wheels.
29.06<6.9*8

49
9.2 Belt Length Calculation
D=d=2.3in
Cu=21in
Cl=19in
CV=6.3in

i. Length of belt for upper tyres

Lu =2*Cu +π*(D+d)/2+ (D-d) 2/4*Cu
Cu=Center distance of upper belt
Lu=Length of upper belt
D=d=Diameter of tyre
Lu=2*21+π*(2.3+2.3)/2
=49.22in

ii. Length of belt for lower tyres

Ll =2*Cl +π*(D+d)/2+ (D-d) 2/4*Cl
Cl=Center distance of lower belt
Ll=Length of lower belt
Lu=2*19+π*(2.3+2.3)/2
=45.22in

iii. Length of belt for vertical length

Only centre distance is there.
CV=6.3in

iv. Total length of belt

Le= Lu+ Ll+ Lv
Le=Total length of belt
Le=49.22/2+45.22/2+6.3
=53.52in

50
9.3 Tension In Belt
P=Mtt*2*π*n/60*103
P=power
=.78*2*π*5*103/60*103
=.408W

v=π*D*n/60
=π*2.3*.0254*5/60
=15.3m/s

P= (T1-T2) v
.408= (T1-T2)15.3
T1-T2=.0267
(T1-mv2)/ (T2-mv2) =eµα
(T1-159.18)/ (T2-159.18) =4.12
4.12*T2 - T1=496.6416
T2=159.17 N
T1=159.197 N

51
10.0 FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
10.1 CONTROLLER
In order to simplify the manufacturing process, the controller is rectangular in our design. Although
it is easy to make, the controller do not fit the user’s hands comfortably, especially for those having
small hands, since the controller is relatively big in order to store the batteries. Therefore, we hope
to give the controller a more ergonomic casing using injection molding. Injection molding provides
more possibilities and flexibilities in appearance than sheet plastics, and is a more suitable choice.

Apart more the shape, the controller should also be more user-friendly in its controlling method.
The switch on our controller can be placed in three positions, top, middle, and bottom one, each
position set the motor to run in different sense of direction, namely clockwise, halt, and
anti-clockwise respectively. This design of switch is meant to be easy to install and operate for
beginner, but it also increases the chance of pushing the control bar wrongly.

10.2 EASIER CONTROL

The robot is capable of climbing up and down. In comparison, the ascending is easier to control,
because the user only need to keep driving forward. As to descending, user generally needs more
practice, because it requires many subtle control and fine movement to set the robot at the right
position for the next move.The skillful maneuver required may be too demanding for beginner and
slow down the descending process. We hope that the mechanism can be improved so that the
climber can be operating with coarse adjustment.

52
11.0 RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
11.1 RESULTS
At the final stage, we were able to build a complete mechanical artifact which can climb upstairs
and downstairs, which illustrated that our design was a feasible one. We were able to complete
the project in schedule and with a reasonable budget. Most of the requirements and specifications
were fulfilled such as
I. The stair-climber can provide itself both vertical and horizontal displacement for at least
0.2 m for each step,
II. Only three motors were used for all actions, and
III. The size of the body was width: 14 in; length: 24 in, which were much smaller than that
stated in the specifications.
However, the stair-climber was weighed over 3-5 kg (approximately 3.5kg) which could not meet
the specifications. Fortunately, the motor could withstand an even higher weight provided by the
body of the stair-climber.

53
11.2 CONCLSUON
To conclude, we believe that the project was a successful one since we could meet most of the
targeted requirements with pleasant team management. The terms stated at the beginning stage
was accomplished with a rather simple design that our team aimed to maintain throughout the
project. It was alleged after the presentation that the planning of our team was well-done. We hope
that the experience learned from the project, including the planning in the designs and the skills in
utilizing different tools, could help develop our career path in the future.
We describe a practical stair-climbing crawler and the mechanisms required to obtain sufficient
grip force on the stairs. We developed powder-filled belts, which consists of several powder-filled
blocks attached to the surface of the crawler belt, and compared the characteristics between the
powder-filled blocks and other conventionally used materials. The results reveal that after the
powder-filled belts deform to match the stair edge, the belts become harder and are therefore able
to keep their shapes. This hysteresis characteristic of the attached powder-filled blocks is due to
the fact that the powder flow generates a large equivalent friction coefficient at the middle area of
the crawler belt, where there is a lower grounding pressure area after the pressure has been
increased once. This has been verified experimentally.
After these experimental verifications, we used this high-grip climber for practical application in
helping to carry heavy baggage. We can use the developed climber under several ground
conditions with a variety of frictional conditions, such as asphalt, concrete and carpet. Several
types of stairs, such as steep stairs (approximately 50 degrees), spiral stairs, narrow stairs, round
edged stairs and wet stairs, were also ascended and descended successfully. Under these difficult
conditions, the powder-filled belt and composed blocks always deliver sufficient grip force without
breaking down. These findings reveal that the newly developed stair-climbing crawler with powder-
filled belts has sufficient durability for practical application.

54
12.0 REFERENCES

BOOKS:
 Strength of materials by S Ramamrutham(Fourth edition)
 Machine design by R S Khurmi(Fourteenth edition)
 Design of machine members by V B Bhandari (Third edition)
 A text book on Production Engineering by Swadesh Kumar Singh.

WEBSITES:
 https://www.wikipedia.com
 https://www.youtube.com
 https://www.nptel.ac.in
 https://www.acornindprod.com
 http://www.intechopen.com/books/climbing-and-walking-robots/stair-climbing-robots-
andhigh-grip-crawler.

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