This paper explores the design strategies for hybrid pole- or trunk-climbing robots, focusing on methods to inform design decisions and assess metrics such as adaptability and performance. A wheeled-grasping hybrid robot with modular, tendon-driven grasping arms and a wheeled drive system mounted on a turret was developed to climb columns of varying diameters. Here, the key innovation is the underactuated arms that can be adjusted to different column sizes by adding or removing modular linkages, though the robot also features capabilities like self-locking (the ability of the robot to stay on the column by friction without power), autonomous grasping, and rotation around the column axis. Mathematical models describe conditions for self-locking and vertical climbing. Experimental results demonstrate the robot's efficacy in climbing and self-locking, validating the proposed models and highlighting the potential for fully automated solutions in industrial applications. This work provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating and designing hybrid climbing robots, contributing to advancements in autonomous robotics for environments where climbing tall structures is critical.

Climbing Robots are being developed for applications ranging from cleaning to the inspection of difficult to reach constructions. Climbing robots should be capable of carrying a light payload and climbing on vertical surfaces with ability to cope with obstacles. Regarding adhesion to the surface, they should be able to operate on different surfaces with different adhesion methods to produce strong gripping force using light weight mechanism consuming minimum power. Bearing these facts in mind this paper presents a 4-legged Wall Climbing Robot in which suction power using on board suction pumps is used as an adhesion technique. A Walking gait was developed to provide the robot with a capability for climbing up the wall. The robot's kinematics and motion can be considered as mimicking a technique commonly used in rock-climbing using four limbs to climb. It uses four legs, each with four-degrees-of-freedom (4-DOF) and specially designed suction cups attached to the end of each leg that enable it to manoeuvre itself up the wall and to move in any direction. The end effector can also be replaced with other end effectors designed for different adhesion methods to climb on variety of surfaces.

When it comes to exploring far off planets, robots need to be able to tackle all sorts of challenges, so NASA has been working on a series of climbing robots to take on different tasks in inhospitable environments. First up is LEMUR (Limbed Excursion Mechanical Utility Robot) which can climb rock walls using hundreds of fishhooks in its fingers. It uses A.I. to navigate around obstacles that it cannot climb, and is one of NASA's first generation of climbing robots. It was developed to perform repair tasks aboard the International Space Station, and below you can see it in a field test in Death Valley, California. Then there's the somewhat terrifying-looking Ice Worm, which was adapted from one of LEMUR's limbs.

Robots can drive on the plains and craters of Mars, but what if we could explore cliffs, polar caps and other hard-to-reach places on the Red Planet and beyond? Designed by engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, a four-limbed robot named LEMUR (Limbed Excursion Mechanical Utility Robot) can scale rock walls, gripping with hundreds of tiny fishhooks in each of its 16 fingers and using artificial intelligence (AI) to find its way around obstacles. In its last field test in Death Valley, California, in early 2019, LEMUR chose a route up a cliff while scanning the rock for ancient fossils from the sea that once filled the area. For Climbing Robots, the Sky's the Limit: The climbing robot LEMUR rests after scaling a cliff in Death Valley, California. The robot uses special gripping technology that has helped lead to a series of new, off-roading robots that can explore other worlds.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech LEMUR was originally conceived as a repair robot for the International Space Station.