Facade Inspection: Design, Prototyping, and Testing of a Hybrid Cable-Driven Parallel Robot

Abstract

In the field of architecture, early detection of damage or degradation of building facades has become increasingly vital due to the need for continuous monitoring of structural integrity. Traditional methods, such as visual inspections, are being supplemented by technological advancements, especially in robotics, which offer innovative solutions for more efficient and precise inspections. This work focuses on the development of a five degree of freedom hybrid cable-driven parallel robot designed for vertical facade inspections. A detailed robot's design and CAD modeling, with a particular focus on a torque transmission mechanism that simplifies the motion of two cables using a single motor is presented. Two degrees of freedom are driven by cables, while the remaining three are driven by a Sarrus-type mechanism and a pan-tilt mechanism. The inverse kinematics models are also developed. A prototype is presented, involving additive manufacturing. A control system for tracking a zig-zag trajectory, commonly used in inspection tasks, was experimentally validated.