# Research on Gait Planning for Wind Turbine Blade Climbing Robots Based on Variable-Cell Mechanisms

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a climbing robot with a variable-cell mechanism that adapts to the complex shape of wind turbine blades for efficient and stable inspections.

## Contribution

The novelty lies in the use of a variable-cell mechanism with reconfigurable configurations for adaptive gait planning on wind turbine blades.

## Key findings

- Two reconfigurable configurations (planar quadrilateral and regular hexagon) enable adaptation to blade geometry.
- Static stability analysis determines optimal gait parameters for varying blade curvatures.
- Simulation and experiments confirm the robot's adaptability and climbing stability on complex surfaces.

## Abstract

To address the complex surface curvature, massive dimensions, and variable pitch angles of wind turbine blades, this paper proposes a climbing robot design based on a variable-cell mechanism. By dynamically adjusting the support span and body posture, the robot adapts to the geometric features of different blade regions, enabling stable and efficient non-destructive inspection operations. Two reconfigurable configurations—a planar quadrilateral and a regular hexagon—are proposed based on the geometric characteristics of different blade regions. The configuration switching conditions and multi-leg cooperative control mechanisms are investigated. Through static stability margin analysis, the stable gait space and maximum stride length for each configuration are determined, optimizing the robot’s motion performance on surfaces with varying curvature. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed multi-configuration gait planning strategy exhibits excellent adaptability and climbing stability across segments of varying curvature. This provides a theoretical foundation and methodological support for the engineering application of robots in wind turbine blade maintenance.