journal article·2025-02-27Open access

Design and Mechanical Behavior Research of Highway Guardrail Patrol Robot

Hong Chang, Guoqing Zhao, Shufeng Tang

Applied Sciences· Volume 15· Issue 5

Abstract

Conducting risk assessments on highways is a critical task. This paper introduces a mobile platform designed for guardrail inspection robots to address the gap between the inspection requirements in road traffic management and the current capabilities of existing highway inspection robots. The platform is utilized for random vehicle inspections, road environment assessments, and transportation equipment evaluations. The robot is designed to operate on double-waveform beam guardrails and features an innovative adaptive dual-wheel tensioning mechanism, significantly enhancing its ability to adapt to the guardrail’s shape and joints. A mechanical model of the robot was developed, and the impact of the tension on the robot’s obstacle-crossing performance was analyzed and optimized through theoretical and simulation-based studies. Finally, a prototype of the robot was constructed, and a testing platform for the highway guardrails was established to evaluate the robot’s operational capabilities. The results demonstrate that the robot exhibits excellent performance in both operation and obstacle-crossing tasks.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Transportation Safety and Impact Analysis · Industrial Technology and Control Systems

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot 010051, China

Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Robotics and Intelligent Equipment Technology, Hohhot 010051, China

College of Science, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot 010051, China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · “Talents Revitalization for Inner Mongolia” Project Team · Key Technology Research Program of Inner Mongolia · Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia · Key research projects of military–civilian integration of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region · National Key R&D Program of China · Fundamental Research Funds for the Directly affiliated Universities of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region · Program for Innovative Research Team in Universities of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

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