A Multi-Segmented Climbing Robot Integrated with Pressure Sensitive Suction Cup

Climbing robots commonly suffer from low load efficiency, poor adaptability to varying wall surfaces, and a lack of real-time perception, limiting their suitability for practical operations in complex environments. To address these issues, this study develops a climbing robot that integrates a multi-segmented structure with pressure-sensitive suction cups. Inspired by the inchworm locomotion mechanism, a multi-segmented structural configuration is implemented. Furthermore, a rigid-flexible coupling suction cup embedded with pressure-sensitive sensing units is fabricated based on feedback from pressing sensors. Experimental results demonstrate that the suction cups can effectively detect the adhesion state, and the robot can carry payloads exceedingly twice its own weight. Additionally, the robot achieves a maximum climbing speed of 10.8 mm/s, validating the effectiveness of the structural design and the proposed control strategy.