Abstract
This research aims to develop of a passive suction cup with Belleville spring. Existing wall-climbing robots have active suction cups, which can adhere to a wall for a long time and easily switch starting and releasing adhesion. However, an active suction cup is heavy and consumes much energy to maintain adhering to the wall. This research proposes a novel passive suction cup that uses a Belleville spring to maintain the adhering force. It is lightweight and can switch attachment and detachment like an active suction cup. Moreover it does not need any energy to maintain adhesion. Therefore, the novel suction cup can achieve an energy-saving wall-climbing robot. In this paper, the analysis, design, and experimentation of the prototype novel passive suction cup are discussed.
