Electronic suction pads/cups?

Community General Discussions
1

Hi Everyone!

Does anyone know of any cheap suction pads that can be triggered electronically? I'm looking to build a robot that can climb smooth surfaces like glass and smooth walls, and suction pads are the only method that I can think of... If not does anyone know of alternative methods? It needs to be cheap, strong and quiet though!

Edit: What about using static electricity (like rubbing a balloon so it sticks to a wall) ? Any thoughts on that idea?  

Thanks :)

BMakins

2

Need more money

Most of those robots are built by university’s with rather large financial budgets.

For inspiration look @ episodes of: Mythbusters & Prototype this.

I think it would be possible to make a kind of suction device, but i guess it would be way to large/heavy to be used in a wall-climbing robot.

 

3

Use a fan to create a suction!

You can try modding one of these, but they are small:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYJOXmQ7Ed4

I’m sure the weight has to be very light for this method to work.

4

Thanks for the

Thanks for the replies!

@rogue I did think about using one of those cars, although I have one and it only really works well on clean glass and nothing else :confused:

@eclipse I thought that might be the case, ah well I’ll just have to stick with floors for now! 

5

Look at suction cups on GPS

Look at suction cups on GPS holders. They work by pulling the tip of the cup away from the outer ring of the cup which changes the shape of the underside thereby creating suction. Usually there is either a screw twist or lever mechanism to pull on the centre of the cup. They wouldn`t be too hard to modify.

6

Coffee bean gripper

Have you seen any of the videos of people building grippers from coffee beans and a ballon? It might work for something like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d4f8fEysf8

7

Is this what you saw? The

Is this what you saw? The benefit of this over my idea is you could locate the pumps in the main body and run some thin tubing anywhere.

 

Robotblue_web.jpg

 

8

Yes! That’s the one I saw

Yes! That’s the one I saw today. The little pumps are pretty nifty.

9

I can’t find this :frowning:

Can you point me in the right direction, please, ezekiel181?

10

Hi Everyone!Thanks for all

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for all the replies :smiley: I’ve had a look at the climbatron although it seems to be fairly slow moving, but a definite possibility! I was considering modifying normal suction cups, although for £12 it would be easier just to buy the climbatron! As for the coffee bean gripper it wouldn’t work on flat surfaces, although if I changed my target area to rough surfaces like trees then they would definitely be a possibility.

If I see a climbatron I’ll buy it and hack it, but in the mean time I think I’ll experiment around with the coffee bean balloon idea, Thanks again!

11

Aha! It’s called the

Aha! It’s called the climb@tron Walligator. Here’s one I found:

https://www.echidnasontheloose.com.au/product.php?productid=17798

12

Thanks for that, joC.I

Thanks for that, joC.

I actually found one on eBay, with a start price of 1p (penny), and to my amazement won it for that price. :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: (Although with postage and packing it cost me £6)

It is brand new, and originally came from the Science Museum in London.

To my surprise, it actually works brilliantly, and even changes direction when it encounters the “window frame” on it’s travels.

Very clever design and quite simple.

If anyone is interested, I’ll strip it down, and do a sort of review of it.