Control Software and Hardware for a Wall Climbing Robot

A control system based on the STE bus system (IEE 1000 1987) has been developed in the construction robotics unit at the University of the West of England for the control of wall climbing robotics equipment. A modular design approach has been adopted which allows components to be updated individually. The resulting system has the benefits of rugged and highly cost effective computer architecture. The paper also describes the software which was written, using modular design methods with an incremental approach to testing. A secondary aim at this phase of the development was to research genetic algorithms and their application to methods of walking and the ways in which these algorithms could be applied to route planning and obstacle negotiation.