I would like to build a robot which should move and climb over glass surfaces (max slope of 30 degrees).
I tried to use tracks with 100% natural rubber, but the robot is not able to move well with slopes greater than 10 degrees mainly when they are wet.
In order to make the robot stick on the glass surface in case of wet conditions, I will add a vacuum system, but I need wheels or tracks with high grip in order to make it move correctly.
Can you link to the tracks you used? They should ideally have no tread pattern for as much surface contact as possible.
Wheels provide a line contact and nowhere as close to the surface area that you’ll need for wet glass at 30 degrees.
Your idea of using vacuum suction is good (reverse hovercraft?), but the contact area is still the tracks.
Your robot should be as lightweight as possible.
Do you have the option of adding an automated winch to the top? Most industrial glass cleaning robots have that as a safety measure.
The more information you can provide, the better we can help.
I attached a photo about the tracks, since they are homemade, there is no online link for them.
They are made by natural rubber and the surface in contact with the glass is in Linatex.
The main problem with the tracks is that if I use the vacuum suction (reverse hovercraft), the robot stick on the glass properly, but the tracks slip and so the robot do not move.
I can’t use the winch.
I was thinking to make the robot lighter and to use wheels in order to avoid the slip effect.
The tracks work very well on slopes of 20 degrees when surface is dry, but I need to make the robot move well on wet surfaces, too.
If the suction works and the tracks slip, perhaps reduce the speed of the fan so there’s less suction? If that works and the suction needed differs at different angles, you can get an 3-xis accelerometer to provide your MCU with the angle and vary the fan speed accordingly.
Given that you are already using treadless rubber, the only option might be a softer rubber. You might also try wider tracks.
If the application is solar panel cleaning, do you really need a mobile robot?
The solar cleaning it’s just one of my purposes, what I would like to achieve is to build a robot able to move on wet glasses surfaces.
I’m working on it since two years ago, but i could not find a suitable solution…
The ideal would be to tether it at two locations (if that’s possible). Other (vertical) glass cleaning robots tend to have a “twin” located on the inside of the glass which use strong magnets to hold each other together.
Perhaps somehow incorporate the vacuum suction into tracks? You would need to have several suction sections which are activated / deactivated as the track rolls. Never really seen it before though.
