A Soft Climbing Robot Based on Smart Wood with Switchable Adhesion

IF 3.3 3区工程技术 Q2 ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

Tribology Letters Pub Date : 2025-07-18 DOI:10.1007/s11249-025-02043-7

Xiaodong Wang, Yaodong Li, Xiaolei Guo, Guanggui Cheng, Rui Lei, Jing Hua, Qichen Zeng, Xucheng Wang, Xuehai Guo

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Abstract

Climbing robots have vital uses in uncharted terrain exploration, military intelligence collecting, and other areas. To address the drawbacks of classic wall-climbing robots, this study introduced a novel soft climbing robot constructed of the smart wood with switchable adhesion force. The experimental findings indicated that the soft robot implemented in this research could effectively perform climbing movements on diverse walls and sloping pavements, enabled by temperature control through cold/hot water circulation and pneumatic actuation. Further research revealed that the reversible phase transition of PNIPAM at different temperatures was the main reason for the variable adhesion force of the smart wood. Moreover, the adhesion force model developed in this work indicated that the adhesion force of the smart wood surface was mostly composed of the contact mechanics force and the capillary force. Finally, this study will offer novel insights for the design of climbing robots and advance their potential applications.

Graphical Abstract

Abstract Image

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基于可切换黏附的智能木材柔性攀爬机器人

攀爬机器人在未知地形探索、军事情报收集和其他领域有着重要的用途。针对传统爬壁机器人的不足，本研究提出了一种新型的柔性爬壁机器人，该机器人由具有可切换附着力的智能木材构成。实验结果表明，通过冷热水循环和气动驱动的温度控制，本研究实现的软机器人可以有效地在不同的墙壁和倾斜的人行道上进行攀爬运动。进一步研究发现，PNIPAM在不同温度下的可逆相变是导致智能木附着力变化的主要原因。此外，本文建立的附着力模型表明，智能木材表面的附着力主要由接触力学力和毛细力组成。最后，本研究将为攀爬机器人的设计提供新的见解，并推进其潜在的应用。图形抽象

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来源期刊

Tribology Letters 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

9.40%

发文量

116

审稿时长

2.5 months

期刊介绍： Tribology Letters is devoted to the development of the science of tribology and its applications, particularly focusing on publishing high-quality papers at the forefront of tribological science and that address the fundamentals of friction, lubrication, wear, or adhesion. The journal facilitates communication and exchange of seminal ideas among thousands of practitioners who are engaged worldwide in the pursuit of tribology-based science and technology.