Abstract
In recent decades, skyscrapers, as represented by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and Shanghai Tower in Shanghai, have been built due to the improvements of construction technologies. Even in such newfangled skyscrapers, the façades are generally cleaned by humans. Wall climbing robots, which are capable of climbing up vertical surfaces, ceilings and roofs, are expected to replace the manual workforce in façade cleaning works, which is both hazardous and laborious work. Such tasks require these robotic platforms to possess high levels of adaptability and flexibility. This paper presents a detailed review of wall climbing robots categorizing them into six distinct classes based on the adhesive mechanism that they use. This paper concludes by expanding beyond adhesive mechanisms by discussing a set of desirable design attributes of an ideal glass façade cleaning robot towards facilitating targeted future research with clear technical goals and well-defined design trade-off boundaries.
Highlights
Robots have been advancing exponentially over the last three decades, moving beyond the traditional bounds of industrial applications into service missions sharing social spaces with humans.Frey and Osborne have estimated that 47% of total U.S employment will be replaced by robots and/or artificial intelligence (AI) in the near future [1]
This paper presents a detailed review of such adhesive mechanisms for wall climbing robots, categorizing them into six distinct classes
This paper presents a detailed review of wall climbing robots categorizing them into six distinct classes based on the adhesive mechanism that they use
Summary
Robots have been advancing exponentially over the last three decades, moving beyond the traditional bounds of industrial applications into service missions sharing social spaces with humans. Tower [7,8,9] in Shanghai, have been built due to improvements in the construction technologies and processes Even in such newfangled skyscrapers, the façades are generally cleaned by humans. Numerous incidents of accidents have been reported even with the use of gondolas in façade cleaning jobs. Robotic solutions offer enormous potential in significantly minimizing risk to humans, as well improving productivity in façade cleaning jobs. One of the fundamental components of any façade cleaning robot is its adhesive mechanism, which enables the robot to attach itself to the wall surface. This paper concludes by expanding beyond adhesive mechanisms by discussing a set of the desirable design attributes of an ideal glass façade cleaning robot towards facilitating targeted future research with clear technical goals and well-defined design trade-off boundaries
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