On Modelbased Adhesion Control of a Vortex Climbing Robot In this article, the adhesion modeling and control case of a Vortex Climbing Robot (VCR) is investigated against a surface of variable orientations. The critical adhesion force exerted from the implemented Vortex Actuator (VA) and the VCRxe2x80x99s achievable payload are analyzed under 3DOF rotations of the test surface, while extracted from both geometrical analysis and dynamicallysimulated numerical results. A modelbased control scheme is later proposed, with the goal of achieving adhesion while the VCR remains immobilized, limiting the power consumption and compensating for disturbances (e.g. moving cables) leading to CenterofMass (CoM) changes. Finally, the modelbased control scheme is experimentally evaluated, with the VCR prototype on a rotating and moving flat surface. The presented results support the use of the proposed methodology in climbing robots targeting inspection and maintenance of stationary surfaces (flat, curved etc.), as well as future robotic solutions operating on moving structures (e.g. ships, cranes, folding bridges).

Design of an AdhesionAware Faxc3xa7ade Cleaning Robot Cleaning requirements of glass facades of highrise buildings have been significantly increased in recent years due to the growth of the construction industry. The conventional cleaning methods for highrise buildings require human labor where efficiency, cost, and safety are major concerns. Therefore, robotic systems that can climb and clean glass fagades in highrise buildings have been developed. Capability to attach to a facade surface is one of the critical requirements of a glass facade cleaning robot. Diverse approaches have been proposed for adhesion of cleaning robots to a glass facade. Active vacuum suction mechanisms are widely used for these robots since they provide better controllability to move the robots smartly on the surface. Notably, those are decent for a reconfigurable robot that can transit between window frames. The suction mechanism of a glass facade cleaning robot must provide a reliable suction force to make the robot stay safely and move smartly on a facade. Nevertheless, these suction mechanisms can be failed due to improper fastening between a facade and the mechanism, which may lead to safety and operational issues. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel method to realize the adhesionawareness of a glass facade cleaning robot. The adhesionawareness is realized by analyzing The current drawn by the motors attached to the impellers of the vacuum mechanisms. Experiment results validate the capability of the proposed approach in raising the adhesionawareness of a facade cleaning robot.