Yoshiyuki Higashi

Development of an Aerial Inspection Robot with EPM and camera arm for steel structures

In this study, we present an aerial robot which equipped with EPM (Electro Permanent Magnet) and two camera arms to conduct a visual inspection of the steel bridges instead of humans. Since bottom surfaces of steel bridges are complicated, robot equipped with typical camera gimbals cannot shoot the entire area of the bridge. Hence, we developed a light and long camera arm for the aerial robot It is possible to shoot the intricate parts of the bridges by mounting these camera arms to the robot. And, we carried out close-up shooting experiment using a structure which stimulates the H-shaped steel in order to evaluate the High performance and the shooting ability. Key words: Aerial Inspection Robot, EPM, Quad-copter, Maintenance Robot

A close inspection and vibration sensing aerial robot for steel structures with an EPM-based landing device

This paper proposes an aerial robot that can land on and cling to a steel structure using electric permanent magnets to be- have as a vibration sensor probe for use in vibration-based structural health monitoring. In the last decade, structural health monitoring techniques have been studied intensively to tackle with serious social issues that most of the infrastructures in advanced countries are being deteriorated. In the typical concept of the structural health monitoring, vibration sensors like accelerometers are installed in the structure to continuously collect the dynamical response of the operating structure to find a symptom of the structural damage. It is unreasonable, however, to permanently deploy the sensors to numerous infrastructures because most of the infrastructures except for those of primary importance do not need continuous measurement and evaluation. In this study, the aerial robot plays a role of a mobile detachable sensor unit. The design guidelines of the aerial robot that performs the vibration measurement from the analysis model of the robot is shown. Experiments to evaluate the frequency response function of the acceleration measured by the robot with respect to the acceleration at the point where the robot adheres are carried out. And the experimental results show that the prototype robot can measure the acceleration of the host structure accurately up to 150 Hz.