An analysis model for wind resistance performance of automated exterior wall painting robots in apartment buildings

The painting of exterior walls on apartment buildings involves a constant risk of painters falling, which could lead to fatalities. Although the market for domestic painting is expanding, painters tend to avoid the risk of painting exterior walls. Accordingly, many studies have been conducted to develop automated exterior wall painting technology in Korea and overseas, largely for apartment buildings. The exterior painting of high-rise apartment buildings is greatly affected by wind. Thus, when automated exterior painting robots are being developed, the design parameters, including the robot type and suction force, must be selected for the robots to safely resist the wind load. This study uses computer simulation technology (Computational Fluid Dynamics) to analyze the resistance capacity of the robots to the wind load on mock-up buildings for the stage prior to field application. Additionally, because high-rise apartment buildings vary greatly in layout and exterior shape, they are subjected to a diverse distribution of wind loads. Thus, an analytical model is proposed for the wind resistance capacity against various loads in order to ensure the safe and stable field application of automated exterior wall painting robots.