A thin electroadhesive inchworm climbing robot driven by an electrostatic film actuator for inspection in a narrow gap

To inspect in a narrow gap of a critical construction or a large machine, such as a generator in a power plant, a thin inchworm climbing robot is proposed. It achieves the unique feature of low height by employing electrostatic adhesion and an electrostatic film actuator, both of which are composed of flexible printed circuit films. A prototype was developed in this research, which has only 2.4 mm of thickness and weighs 21.7 g. The experiments demonstrated that it can climb up a slope of 80°, and carry a 0.5 N payload on a horizontal surface with applied voltage of 600 V.