ANALYSIS OF PERMANENT MAGNETIC-BASED CLIMBING ROBOT DESIGN FOR SHIP HULL AND OIL TANK SERVICES

Abstract

Servicing operations in the marine and oilfield industries cover a wide range of tasks, including the removal of biofoulings from ship surfaces, re-painting, and inspection of ship and oil tank surfaces, as both are exposed to the environment. With the rate at which technology has advanced, a modern solution to this challenge may be attainable in assisting manual labour. This paper outlines the development of a robot that climbs a wall at an angle adopting a permanent magnet as the primary adhesion mechanism. Attachable and detachable permanent magnets are used in the robot design to demonstrate how the increments of magnet number affect the climbing of the robot at an angle. The analysis of this experiment includes static and dynamic movement of the robot and a discussion related to the experiment is included in the paper.