Title: Study of key parameters of a new sandblaster applied to a wall-climbing robot

Authors: Xin Wei; Junyou Zhao; Jiafeng Sun; Chengxin Yan

Addresses: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China ' College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China ' College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China ' College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China

Abstract: The derusting wall-climbing robot employs laser simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) technology to achieve autonomous navigation. However, the presence of leaking sand particles gives rise to dust formation, which interferes with LIDAR and causes the robot to deviate from its working path. To mitigate the LIDAR interference caused by dust, a novel swing sandblaster has been designed, taking advantage of the rebound effect exhibited by sand particles during the sand recovery process. Utilising the numerical simulation method, the influence of outlet pressure, inlet pressure, and sand particle diameter on recovery efficiency is thoroughly investigated. Subsequently, the working parameters for the sandblaster are selected for experiments and the results reveal a noteworthy average recovery efficiency of 94.4%, surpassing the traditional sandblaster by 16.3%. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed solution in effectively reducing dust within the working environment and enhancing the accuracy of autonomous navigation for the wall-climbing robot.

Keywords: autonomous navigation; instant positioning; high efficiency sandblaster; dust-free derusting; sandblasting flow field.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAT.2023.136330

International Journal of Abrasive Technology, 2023 Vol.11 No.4, pp.325 - 343

Received: 14 Dec 2022
Accepted: 16 May 2023
Published online: 30 Jan 2024 *

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