Rope-Riding Mobile Anchor for Robots Operating on Convex Facades

The increasing presence of high-rise buildings with curved and convex facades poses significant challenges for facade-cleaning robots, particularly in terms of mobility and anchoring. To address this, we propose a rope-riding mobile anchor (RMA) system capable of repositioning the anchor point of a...

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Main Authors: Chaewon Kim, KangYup Lee, Jeongmo Yang, TaeWon Seo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/15/4674
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author Chaewon Kim
KangYup Lee
Jeongmo Yang
TaeWon Seo
author_facet Chaewon Kim
KangYup Lee
Jeongmo Yang
TaeWon Seo
author_sort Chaewon Kim
collection DOAJ
description The increasing presence of high-rise buildings with curved and convex facades poses significant challenges for facade-cleaning robots, particularly in terms of mobility and anchoring. To address this, we propose a rope-riding mobile anchor (RMA) system capable of repositioning the anchor point of a cleaning robot on convex building surfaces. The RMA travels horizontally along a roof-mounted nylon rope using caterpillar tracks with U-shaped grooves, and employs a four-bar linkage mechanism to fix its position securely by increasing rope contact friction. This structural principle was selected for its simplicity, stability under heavy loads, and efficient actuation. Experimental results show that the RMA can support a payload of 50.5 kg without slippage under tensions up to 495.24 N, and contributes to reducing the power consumption of the cleaning robot during operation. These findings demonstrate the RMA’s effectiveness in extending the robot’s working range and enhancing safety and stability in facade-cleaning tasks on complex curved surfaces.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1424-8220
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publishDate 2025-07-01
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series Sensors
spelling doaj-art-e6cdcd6d56474846a3d73c8aa315746f2025-08-20T03:36:30ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-07-012515467410.3390/s25154674Rope-Riding Mobile Anchor for Robots Operating on Convex FacadesChaewon Kim0KangYup Lee1Jeongmo Yang2TaeWon Seo3Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 222, Wangsimni-ro, Seoul 04763, Republic of KoreaMechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 222, Wangsimni-ro, Seoul 04763, Republic of KoreaMechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 222, Wangsimni-ro, Seoul 04763, Republic of KoreaMechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 222, Wangsimni-ro, Seoul 04763, Republic of KoreaThe increasing presence of high-rise buildings with curved and convex facades poses significant challenges for facade-cleaning robots, particularly in terms of mobility and anchoring. To address this, we propose a rope-riding mobile anchor (RMA) system capable of repositioning the anchor point of a cleaning robot on convex building surfaces. The RMA travels horizontally along a roof-mounted nylon rope using caterpillar tracks with U-shaped grooves, and employs a four-bar linkage mechanism to fix its position securely by increasing rope contact friction. This structural principle was selected for its simplicity, stability under heavy loads, and efficient actuation. Experimental results show that the RMA can support a payload of 50.5 kg without slippage under tensions up to 495.24 N, and contributes to reducing the power consumption of the cleaning robot during operation. These findings demonstrate the RMA’s effectiveness in extending the robot’s working range and enhancing safety and stability in facade-cleaning tasks on complex curved surfaces.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/15/4674rope ridingmobile robotmanipulabilitylinkage mechanism
spellingShingle Chaewon Kim
KangYup Lee
Jeongmo Yang
TaeWon Seo
Rope-Riding Mobile Anchor for Robots Operating on Convex Facades
Sensors
rope riding
mobile robot
manipulability
linkage mechanism
title Rope-Riding Mobile Anchor for Robots Operating on Convex Facades
title_full Rope-Riding Mobile Anchor for Robots Operating on Convex Facades
title_fullStr Rope-Riding Mobile Anchor for Robots Operating on Convex Facades
title_full_unstemmed Rope-Riding Mobile Anchor for Robots Operating on Convex Facades
title_short Rope-Riding Mobile Anchor for Robots Operating on Convex Facades
title_sort rope riding mobile anchor for robots operating on convex facades
topic rope riding
mobile robot
manipulability
linkage mechanism
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/15/4674
work_keys_str_mv AT chaewonkim roperidingmobileanchorforrobotsoperatingonconvexfacades
AT kangyuplee roperidingmobileanchorforrobotsoperatingonconvexfacades
AT jeongmoyang roperidingmobileanchorforrobotsoperatingonconvexfacades
AT taewonseo roperidingmobileanchorforrobotsoperatingonconvexfacades