Design and experiment of CLIBOT, a novel UHV insulator climbing robot with discrete optimization

Abstract

Purpose

By analyzing the shortcomings of existing insulator robots, a novel ultra high voltage (UHV) insulator climbing robot, which could transfer between adjacent insulator strings, is proposed for operation on 800KV multiple-string insulators. An extended inchworm-like configuration was chosen and a stable gripping claw suitable for the insulator string was designed to enable the robot to multiple-string insulators. Then a set of nonheuristic structural parameters that can influence energy consumption was chosen to formulate a nonlinear optimization problem based on the configuration, which improved the energy efficiency of the robot during progressing along a string of insulator.

Design/methodology/approach

The purpose of this paper is to design an insulator climbing robot for operation on UHV multiple-string insulators, which could transfer between adjacent insulator strings and progressed along a string of insulator with high energy efficiency.

Findings

A physical prototype was constructed that can operate at the speed of six pieces per minute (approximately 1.44 meters per minute) on a single string and complete transference between adjacent strings in 45 s. The energy consumption of joints during progressed along a string of insulator had been reduced by 38.8% with the optimized parameters, demonstrating the consistency between the experimental and simulation results.

Originality/value

An insulator climbing robot for operation on UHV multiple-string insulators has been developed with energy consumption optimization design. The robot can transfer between adjacent insulator strings and progressed along a string of insulator with high energy efficiency. The CLIBOT could be expanded to detect or clean the insulators with similar specification.

Citation

Li, Y., Ai, Y., Zou, J., Liu, L., Liu, C., Fu, S., Zou, D. and Wei, W. (2024), "Design and experiment of CLIBOT, a novel UHV insulator climbing robot with discrete optimization", Industrial Robot, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-02-2024-0064