Paper: Magneto: A Versatile Multi-Limbed Inspection Robot

IROS 2018 Paper: Magneto: A Versatile Multi-Limbed Inspection Robot

Inspection of complex industrial structures has always been challenging, especially in spaces which have a very narrow profile and are cluttered with structural elements making it impossible for an aerial platform to perform a close-range inspection.

We at the CSIRO have developed a magnetic foot climbing robot that attempts to address some of these challenges.

With its permanent electro-magnetic feet, the robot is able to navigate the ferrous surfaces at any inclination angle.

The flexibility of high degrees of freedom allows the robot to place its feet on discontinuous surfaces like narrow beams and maintain contact even when having to deform its body configuration to traverse a small gap.

The results of this research have been accepted as a conference paper in the 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

The paper describes the platform and its capability and strategy in traversing surfaces at any incline, traversing narrow beams of varying separation, its ability to negotiate tight spaces and its ability to switch from locomotion to inspection of confined space voids.

Read more about our magnapods research and click here to download the paper.

For more information, contact Dr Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay on tirtha.bandy [at] csiro.au

Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay, Ryan Steindl, Fletcher Talbot, Navinda Kottege, Ross Dungavell, Brett Wood, James Barker, Karsten Hoehn, Alberto Elfes, “IROS 2018 Paper: Magneto: A Versatile Multi-Limbed Inspection Robot” in IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Madrid, Spain, October, 2018.