The effect of vibration resulting from omnidirectional wheels is
magnified in climbing robots compared to terrestrial robots,
because of the changes of the magnetic adhesion force due to the
changes on the distance between the magnets and the climbing
surface. This effect is more problematic in the curved structures.
We made analysis and simulations in order to reduce the vibration
by means of developing a novel omnidirectional magnetic wheel.
At the same time we could reduce the size and weight of the wheel
and thus the overall weight of the omniclimber. As a result the
robot could achieve a smoother movement and reduced the loss
of traction and ponctual wheel detachment from the curved structures
which made it possible to climb a structure with a diameter
of 200 mm. Future works includes development of a fully round
omnidirectional magnetic wheels through development of custom-made
magnetic rollers with a low thickness high friction cover. We are also integrating exteroceptive sensors i.e. an inertial
module which will be used by the trajectory following algorithms
of the robot, to compensate the odometry errors, and a vision system
for inspection of the structure.