Dynamic analysis of a cable-climbing robot system

Abstract

Cable-climbing robot is designed to inspect the cable-stayed bridge, releasing workers from dangerous environment. Meanwhile, the vibration of cable with a robot should be researched. The cables of bridge will be seriously damaged when large amplitude occurs. Not only that, the inertial force by acceleration should be emphasized as well. In this paper, a cable-climbing robot is introduced first. Then we analyze the vibration system of cable with this robot, regarding the robot as a particle and considering wind effects. We mainly consider two parameters, mass and position, which may strongly influence the vibration. Also, we refer to the Vibration String Equation, regarding the system as pure forced vibration with lumped mass. We give the simulation of the cable without robot for comparison. The result shows that maximum amplitude occurs in the middle of the cable. When the robot climbs on the cable, vibration by the lumped mass is discussed. Here we use a method of subsection, supplementing new condition at robot position. After solving the equations on both sides, we get a piecewise function that concludes mass and position which are important in further research.