Design and Analysis of Structure Climbing Robot for Telecom Tower

Abstract

Considering most of the cases for maintenance of the telecom towers, the conventional methods are used for maintenance work. Generally, riggers (human labourers) are being sent on the towers for the maintenance purpose risking their lives in danger. The climbing frequency for the towers is usually three to five times a day per technician. Sometimes due to weather conditions and some technical issues, the fatal and lost time injury incidents are caused. During rainy days and nights, it is generally difficult to climb a tower. Even certain fatal incidents like fire-catching and short-circuiting are also observed when working on electrical systems on-site. In order to reduce the risk of riggers due to these type of incidents, a robotic device which can climb the high altitudes like telecom towers are designed. Herein, the major motive of work is to design a locomotion system that could be capable of truss structure of the tower, configure the position and climb down so as to minimize the risk of human labourers. This can be considered a special-purpose robotic device because it can climb the high-altitude structures and can accomplish the task given with the help of the attachments fitted with it. In order to achieve the desired task, it is necessary to design all major components with basic design considerations. The major components involved in the design for the base of the device are pneumatic grippers, pneumatic cylinders, and some more attachments. Overview of the work can be stated as the analysis of designed components with suitable software followed by simulation work, manufacturing, and testing of a device for the fulfilment of the objective previously mentioned.