Robo-Sloth: A Rope-Climbing Robot

Sandeep Urankar, Pranjal Jain, Anurag Singh, Anupam Saxena and Bhaskar
Dasgupta

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology
Kanpur 208016

Abstract
The design of a rope climbing robot was an exercise in bio-mimicry, an attempt in copying
the exact motion of a sloth bear while climbing. The advantages of bio-mimicry are well
known, but the true justification is that since much of the proposed robotic behavior already
has precise analogies in nature, it is reasonable to copy them for our applications. Biological
systems, having evolved over millions of years, provide us proven and efficient solutions to
problems of navigation, motion, sensing and searching. Such a design based on a biological
organism, if perfected, would be much better than its conventional counterparts. The design
which results from this exercise is quite robust, versatile and has many potential applications
in industry.


1. Introduction

A study of the sloth bear (Fig 1) in motion reveals that the bear uses both pairs of its limbs
(fore limbs and hind limbs) to climb a rope or a tree. It moves both its hind limbs in one step
and then both its fore limbs in another. Each pair of limbs acts as a gripper. Only one pair of
limbs is used at a time for gripping the tree (while in motion) while the other pair slides over
the tree. The bear uses its back as a hinge, the back being straight in one instant and bent in
the other. This movement when coordinated can be a very efficient and a reliable mechanism
for climbing. No wonder then, the sloth is one of the best climbers in nature. This is also the
reason why it was chosen as a model for our study.

In recent years, several researchers and groups have reported work on such biomimetic
devices. For example, The Robo-tuna (Barrett [1]) is an ongoing project at MITs
department of ocean engineering, where attempts are being made to copy the motion of a
blue-fin tuna in order to develop a better propulsion system for autonomous underwater
vehicles. Ayers et al [2] reported attempts being made at the Marine Science Center,
Northeastern University, to copy the behavior of lobsters for the purpose of conducting
autonomous investigation of both the bottom and water column of the littoral zone of an
ocean. Analysis and development of snake-like devices has been reported by Hirose [3].

The ROBO-Sloth is comparatively simpler as far as its behavior is concerned. It has only to
move along a pre-defined path. An improvement in design would be to enable the robot to
shift between ropes, whereby the problem would become that of motion in space rather than
along predefined path (rope).

1

Fig. 1 The Sloth

2. Mechanical Model

2.1 Design of Backbone

A mechanical model, formulated based on the observation of the sloth, would
essentially be a set of four bar mechanisms (see Ghosh and Mallik [4]). The entire body of the
bear and the grippers can be modeled as four bar mechanisms, performing actions similar to
that of the bear.

Beginning with the backbone, it can be modeled if it were to be thought of as two links hinged
at the center. This is of course an approximation, since the bears back is more flexible than
this. However, this approximation is valid and serves our purpose at the moment. In future, if
needed, more redundancies may be added.







Fig. 2 Backbone of mechanism


The links would have to rotate about the central joint in order to mimic the sloth. Not only
that, we would need to control this rotation if we are to control the climbing. For this purpose,
a power source has to be placed at the joint (Fig 3).

A motor could be placed between the two links. In the actual fabrication of our robot, we
chose to place a worm and worm-wheel mechanism at the center. The reasons were obvious;
this is a self locking mechanism, it ensures that the link doesnt fall back into place once the
motor has been deactivated. Besides this obvious advantage, it can provide the appropriate
speed reduction in order to make the motion of the sloth slow and steady.

Choosing the appropriate power transmission mechanism at the centre is crucial as a lot of
torque acts at this point, especially if the robot is to carry huge payloads.


motor





2

Fig. 3 Links with motor in place

Two more pin joints and links are added to the ends of the backbone, (Fig. 4). The new links
are now constrained to move along a straight line or a fixed path which approximates the rope
to be climbed (Frame). At any given instant, link 4 is fixed while link 5 slides along the fixed
path or vice versa. The whole mechanism now is a four bar linkage, powered at the center.
Links 4 and 5 are important as they act as sliders, whereas links 2 and 3 act as cranks. Links 4
and 5 also provide the base on which the entire gripping mechanism is to be mounted. Even if
the backbone, without links 4 and 5, is complete, they are added to the backbone for reasons
detailed above.
Link 5
Link 1
Link 2 Link 3
Link 4








Fig. 4 Four bar mechanism (backbone)

2.2 Design of Grippers

The design of the gripper is an essential part of the rope climbing robot. During the vertical
climb, the gripper has to bear the entire weight of the robot and the payload. This, is the main
consideration for the design of the gripper. The gripping mechanism can be approximated by
another four-bar mechanism. This mechanism is to be attached to links 4 and 5 of the
backbone.

Link 3
Link 4
Link 2
Link 1
Fig. 5 Gripping mechanism

The four links, shown in fig. 5, are joined together by pin joints. The mechanism can be
powered by means of two pulleys. A motor is attached to the smaller pulley and through a
transmission belt the rotation is conveyed to a bigger pulley. The larger pulley is attached to
the four bar mechanism, when it rotates, it causes link 3 to clamp or unclamp the rope held
against the base.
3

Pulley 2 (large)
Link 3 (clamping link)
a
Pulley 1 small
Fig. 6 Parameters a, m, l
The parameters l, m and a are important (Fig 6) as they determine the level of frictional force
finally generated at the clamp. If the length of l is longer than that of m, more leverage will be
achieved at the point of contact. The angle a will determine if the gripper is self-locking or
not.

The gripper has to be designed such that, it is self-locking. This ensures that the robot does
not slip at any point of time. More over this property allows us to put large amount of
payloads on the robot. The more the payload, stronger will be the grip.

The figures 7 and 8 illustrate how the gripping mechanism becomes self locking. As soon as
the robot begins to slip in the direction indicated, the reaction force (friction, also indicated)
will act in a direction so as to oppose the direction of slip. This force generates a torque about
the pin joint such that it causes the clamping link to rotate in such a direction that the link
clamps the rope under the action of its own weight. Hence every time the robot begins to slip,
the clamp will grip it tighter, making the mechanism self-locking.


F= Reaction force
T= Torque

T
F
Fig. 7 Self locking gripper (during horizontal climbing when weight acts downwards)
mg
Direction of slip of robot


4

mg
F= Reaction force
T= Torque

T
F
Direction of slip of robot
Fig. 8 Self locking gripper (during vertical climbing)





2.3 Design of guides

Guides are needed in the design so that the entire weight of the robot does not fall on the
clamping mechanism. The normal force from the rope will produce a torque such that it will
unclamp the gripper. In figure 9, shown below, two rollers are placed on either side of the
clamp such that when the robot is suspended from a horizontal rope, the robot hangs on the
rollers. The rollers will allow the rope to pass freely between the clamp (rolling friction is
minimal and can be ignored)


Fig. 9 Guides
Guides

2.4 Complete Design

The design of the backbone and the gripper completes the mechanical design. Figure 10,
below, shows the complete design with the gripper bolted on to the backbone. It also shows
how the three motors are bolted on to the backbone and the assembly of the worm and worm-
wheel arrangement. A gear box (shown in figure 10) is required at the center because the
worm has the tendency to dis-engage from the worm-wheel under large loads.

5

Fig.10 Final assembly
2.5 Design of control system

As opposed to many other bio-mimetic systems, the design of the control system for the
Robo-sloth is fairly simple. It has only to move back and forth on a well defined path, a rope
or a wire. However if it were to be designed such that the robot could shift between two wires
close to each other, the problem of controlling would become all the more difficult. For the
present design, figure 11 shows the algorithm for motion. There are many ways to implement
this algorithm. An electronic circuit was designed to control the Robo-sloth. However, the
same task can be achieved by an RCX available in the Lego mind-storm kit. The
programming is iconic and simple, allowing the designer to make changes at will. Here we a

6
Activate central
motor in clock
wise direction for
T seconds
Start side motor1 and
motor 2 (hold upper
gripper and lower
gripper)
Halt
down
Release upper
gripper
Activate
central motor
in anti clock
wise direction
for T seconds
Up
Release lower
gripper
Direction
of motion
Hold upper gripper

3. Fabrication and Assembly
Step 1, the worm and worm-wheel are assembled into the gearbox (Fig 12, 13)


Fig. 12 Fig. 13
Step 2, four links of the backbone are assembles with the gearbox in between. (Fig. 14, 15)


Fig. 14 Fig. 15
Step 3, two kinds of motors are used in the robot, the motors have to be bolted to the
backbone. The central motor is passed through two rings which are bolted to link 2, and the
side motors are passed through channels with key slots cut in them, the channels are then
bolted to links 4 and 5 respectively. (Fig. 16, 17)


Fig. 16 Fig. 17

Step 4, grippers have to be assembled using shafts and bushes. The grippers have to be bolted
on to links 4 and 5 respectively. (Fig. 18 and 19)


Fig. 18 Fig. 19 (Duplication of Fig. 10)
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4. Results

Based on the principles and designs discussed in the previous section, the Robo-sloth was
fabricated. The parameters of the robot and the steps of motion are discussed in this section.

The material chosen for its backbone and gripper was aluminium. Aluminium was chosen
because it is much lighter than other conventional metals available to us. Brass had to be used
when there was a mating between two parts. E.g. worm and worm-wheel, shaft and bush.

The weight of the sloth was measured to be 1.7 kg and a payload of 5 kg was carried
successfully. The payload is restricted by the huge torques generated at the centre. An
improvement in the central joint and a stronger central motor would lead to an improvement
in the payload capabilities.

The power required for normal operation is 20 W and the sloth can run on a 12 V DC supply.
This indicates a 12 V battery can be carried on board, but the weight of the battery would
have to be deducted from the payload weight. The current design, however, did not carry the
power supply on board.

The operational speed capacity of the sloth is 2.7 m/min. The comparatively slow speed of
operation was chosen intentionally to mimic the sloth.

The tip to tip length of the sloth is 62 cm, its breadth is 7 cm and the maximum height it can
achieve is 14 cm. The sloth is programmed to operate between backbone angles of 60 deg and
150 deg.

Having discussed the parameters, the steps of motion are discussed further. The photographs
shown below, are slides from a movie that was made of the Robo-Sloth in motion. The slides
show, how successful the Robo-sloth has really been in mimicking the real sloth. It was tested
many times and the performance was found to be highly repeatable.

Note the angles of the gripper links, they indicate opening and closing of the grippers. The
bending of the backbone indicates the motion of the robot.

Step 1, both grippers are locked and backbone stationary (central motor switched off). Note
the angle of the backbone, (almost 60 deg), climbing begins at this angle. Also note the
positions of the clamps; they are both in gripped position. In this state, the robot is ready and
waiting for a command to move.



Side motor 1
Clamp 1
Central motor

Fig. 20 Picture of Robo-sloth
8


Step 2, when Side-motor 1 is switched off, the respective gripping mechanism unclamps.
Note the position of the clamp in fig. 21, When the Central motor is switched on, link 5
begins to slide to the right. The link continues sliding till the backbone straightens out, note
back- bone angle in Fig. 22 (Almost 180 deg). At this point, the central motor is switched off.


Fig. 21 Fig. 22

Step 3, when the extreme position is achieved, as in fig 22, side-motor 1 is switched on and
side-side-motor 2 switched off. The gripper on the left unclamps (fig 23). Central motor is
switched on, Link 4 begins to slides to right (fig 24). This continues till the backbone reaches
its other extreme position (almost 40 deg) (figure 24).Next, the robot returns to its original
state and the entire cycle begins again.


Fig. 23 Fig. 24
A similar performance is achieved when the robot is climbing vertical ropes (see Fig 25,
26,27).

Fig. 25 Starting position Fig. 26 Extreme position Fig. 27 In transition
9
10

5. Conclusion

The sloth bears motion was studied in detail and a kinematic model was made. The
kinematics, after suitable approximations, boils down to two four-bar mechanisms: the
backbone and the gripper. The linkages were made self locking so that the robot would not
slip under its own weight. A control system was designed such that the gripper and the
backbone when operated in coordination would simulate the climbing motion of the sloth.
Every attempt was made to reduce the weight of the robot so as to maximize the payload
capacity. The speed of operation was intentionally kept low so that while in operation the
Robo-sloth could be slow, silent and inconspicuous. The self locking nature makes it very
reliable.

These properties make the Robo-sloth an excellent spy. Preferably under suitable
camouflaging packaging, it could be used very effectively for monitoring buildings. It already
has a good payload capacity; therefore it may carry the power supply and a camera onboard.
If the gripper were to be replaced by suction pads, it would have the capability of scaling
walls as well. The design could be slightly modified to carry grippers and suction pads at the
same time. Robo-sloth would then become a really versatile climber. It would have the
distinct advantage of being able to maneuver around corners, being able to crawl on the
ground, wall and the ceiling and shift to wires, pipes and cables when required. It could also
crawl through AC ducts very easily. Hostage situations in large buildings could use such a
monitoring device. Maintenance of high tension power lines could be another application.
Maintenance of lift shafts and cables could also be done through such climbers.

To conclude, biology has proven through evolution that the mechanism of the limb is far
more versatile than that of the wheel. The task of climbing a rope could have been performed
efficiently with a wheel mechanism but the potential of the Robo-sloth or any other bio-
mimetic device is much more. If the hinge joints in the back bone of the Robo-sloth were
replaced by ball-and-socket joints, then the robot would have much more flexibility, to shift
between ropes and turning would become possible. There is no limit to the range of
maneuvers it may then perform.

6. References

1. David Barrett. (1995) MIT ocean Engineering Testing Tank, Biomimetics Project:
Robo Tuna, http://web.mit.edu/towtank/www/projects.htm .
2. Ayers, J., Witting, J., McGruer, N., Olcott, C., Massa, D. (2000) Lobster Robots. In:
Proceedings of the International Symposium on Aqua Biomechanisms. T. Wu and N,
Kato, [eds], Tokai University.
3. Shigeo Hirose. (1993) Biologically Inspired Robots (Snake-like Locomotor and
Manipulator), Oxford University Press.
4. Ghosh and Mallik, Theory of mechanisms and machines 1998, Affiliated East-West
Press Private Limited.