A Flexible Electrostatic Adsorption Suction Cup for Curved Surface

As an important electrical pipeline, the GIS (gas insulated metal-enclosed switchgear) pipeline is applied in many scenarios. However, it has a narrow internal place and non-magnetic wall, which makes existing robot adsorption structure difficult to meet the needs of this type of the pipe. This paper combines the flexible electrostatic adsorption electrode and the flexible material to design a suction cup adapted to curved surface and narrow pipeline inner wall. The relationship between electrostatic adsorption force and the applied voltage is studied through designing a coplanar bipolar electrostatic adsorption membranes. And the adsorption force simulation are completed by the Ansoft Maxwell, the structure of the flexible electrostatic suction cup analyzed by Abaqus. After making the suction cup prototypes with different structures, the experiment testing adsorption force determines the final structure and verifies the adsorption capacity of electrostatic suction cup.