HausBots’ HB1 Designed to Climb Walls and Work in High Places

from hackster.io

Infrastructure is an essential part of our daily lives, and we often take it for granted when driving on roads and bridges, having clean water and electricity to power our homes. Maintaining those systems nationwide is a daunting task, especially when inspection or repairs are needed in cramped or confined areas high above the ground.

Moreover, around 85,000 workers fall from heights in the US and UK combined, 700 fatal. UK-based HausBots’ HB1 robot could make those jobs a bit easier and safer as it’s designed to climb walls and other surfaces with ease and perform tasks such as visual inspection, painting and more.

HausBots developed the HB1 with four rubber-based wheels and is connected to a control unit via a 110 V tether. The robot is outfitted with a pair of strong electric fans that draw air beneath the chassis with 92-pounds of force, expelling the air from the top of the robotic enclosure, allowing it to adhere to most surfaces.

The HB1 can navigate ceilings even if they are rough, curved and smooth, and traverse over wires and bolts while maintaining suction.

The HB1 can be equipped with various attachments (weighing up to 13 pounds) for any number of jobs, including cameras and ultrasonic sensors for infrastructure inspections, a robotic arm, airless spray attachments, rollers and more.

Considering the robot’s fans consume a lot of power, it needs to be tethered as batteries would limit the amount of time the robot could perform tasks. That said, the tether itself is 30-meters long and can be used on the ground and on top of buildings, which provides more distance as the operator can move with the robot.

To be honest, using these bots to cover what is essentially street art, is lame. But, the artists need fresh canvases now and then!