Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2021
26th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Comparison of Friction Properties of Materials with Different Hardness for Cable Riding Robots’ Wheels
Submission Author:
Marina Baldissera de Souza , SC , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Marina Baldissera de Souza, Gustavo Fernandes, Rodrigo de Souza Vieira, Lauro Nicolazzi, Roberto Kinceler
Presenter: Marina Baldissera de Souza
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2021.COB2021-0900
Abstract
Robots for inspecting overhead power lines are designed to automate the inspection process, aiming to reduce the inspection time and enhance reliability. Most of the inspection robots travel along the power line conductors through wheels made of insulating materials. Besides protecting the robot’s systems and components from an electric discharge, the wheel material must assure that the robot is able to accelerate, ride a slope and brake without overloading the traction motor. One way to check if the wheel material meets these requirements is measuring the friction coefficient between the surface of the wheel and the surface of a wire cable conductor. In this paper, two wheel’s replicas of distinct material are field tested to establish the static friction coefficient and the rolling resistance coefficient between their surface and a real standard conductor cable. The wheel's materials are ABS plastic and Polyurethane of 50 Shore A hardness. The coefficients are measured by placing a wheel’s replica on an aluminum conductor connecting two poles with different heights. One end of a rope parallel to the conductor is tied to the replica and the other end is attached to a recipient. The recipient mass is slowly augmented until the static equilibrium is broken. The coefficients are estimated from the recipient weight that broke the equilibrium. The static friction and rolling resistance coefficients define the maximum inclination that the robot can stay parked, the motor torque and the power dissipated during robot ride. These parameters are quantifiable and enable an objective comparison of the two materials. This way, the most adequate material to manufacture the robot wheels can be selected, presenting a compromise between consumption and riding capability.
Keywords
Friction on wire cable, field robotics, riding capability, power line inspection
