Research on a new crawler type inspection robot for power transmission lines

The mechanical structure and control system for a new crawler type of robots is presented in this paper. The type of the robot is designed for power transmission line inspections. The new crawler type of the robot is composed of three arms and a balance mechanism, which are all joined together through a base. The distributed and hierarchical control strategy for this new robot is proposed in combination with a rule based expert system for optimal decision making. The proposed control strategy has been organized into three levels hierarchically. Compared with other robot structures, this new type of robot has a simpler structure. It has been proved that this type of new robot has higher efficiency in obstacle crossing through the simulation and experiments operating with the prototype of the model machine. Its intelligent control strategy has demonstrated its competitive advantages. The crawler type inspection robot is a attempt for developing a new robot structure to be used for high voltage power transmission line inspection.