Wall-Climbing Robot Makes Bridge Inspections Easier and Safer

The 29-in.-wide machine encompasses a PCI digicam and is managed by way of a joystick. It is ready to adhere to concrete and different flat surfaces utilizing a mixture of airflow expertise and suction. Engineers say it will possibly climb tall constructions whereas carrying inspection tools that scans for deterioration in concrete, metal and different supplies.

 For the agency, which handles structural evaluation and non-destructive testing, the expertise represents a shift in how such inspections are carried out.

“It’s an entry means for us,” says WJE affiliate principal and unit supervisor Mohamed ElBatanouny. “The non-destructive [testing] tools that goes on it, we’re consultants on. We perceive what the info is and we are able to interpret the info, however the robotic may also help our tools acquire knowledge extra effectively and, in some circumstances, extra safely.”

The HB2 can carry as much as 6 kg of kit, traverse tough surfaces and surmount obstacles like wires and bolts, in keeping with Jack Cornes, co-founder and CEO of HausBots. It could additionally function in less-than-perfect climate circumstances.  

“If wind is above a sure pace, [humans] can’t even go up in a carry,” ElBatanouny says. “You could possibly have a staff already mobilized to a web site, however you gained’t be capable to do something due to excessive winds. So it’s wasted time in a means. You could tether the robotic, after all, however you may make it climb up and down. Circumstances that aren’t secure for people are secure for the robotic.”

ElBatanouny first got here throughout the robotic at a bridge preservation convention in 2024 when he noticed it climbing the facet of a truck and was intrigued.

“I stated ‘Okay. That appears fairly cool,’” he says.

After graduating from college, Cornes and his colleagues constructed the primary crawler prototype in 2017. At present, the corporate has 40 to 50 robots working within the discipline inspecting hard-to-access locations.

Cornes says different producers make robots that use magnetic wheels to climb, however these solely work on ferrous metallic surfaces. Different programs utilizing vacuum pumps to create suction have been studied and examined, however these require surfaces which might be nearly completely flat for the machines to function.

“Our system has a fan, so it’s utilizing airflow to make downforce so the floor doesn’t need to be excellent,” he says.

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates invited HausBots to display the crawler in June 2024 in each laboratory and discipline circumstances. The pilot challenge concerned inspecting injury on piers of the Chicago Skyway, a 68-year-old tollway on the town’s south facet. The problem was to see if it may carry a variety of non-destructive testing instruments whereas climbing vertically on concrete surfaces as much as 160 ft tall.

The robotic carried tools for a half-cell potential measurement take a look at, which detects the chance of corrosion within the metal reinforcement inside concrete and for a MIRA ultrasonic shear wave tomography take a look at, which makes use of a number of ultrasonic sensors positioned in opposition to a floor with stress. It sends sound waves via the concrete and creates a 3D picture of what’s contained in the construction.

 “At first, I didn’t assume a robotic may carry out this take a look at as a result of the machine wants stress in opposition to the floor,” ElBatanouny says. “However Jack defined that the robotic was designed to deal with that, and in the long run, it labored efficiently.”

ElBatanouny says there are nonetheless situations the place hands-on inspections are wanted.

“If the info collected by the robotic signifies, and we need to return and have a look at some particular areas extra intently, we are able to have folks do it that means,” he says.

 A bridge inspection in Louisiana in wet climate was quicker, safer, and extra dependable utilizing the robotic, he says.

 “The bridge is over water, so inspectors usually had to make use of a snooper truck to achieve beneath it. They nonetheless used the truck for close-up inspections, however they used the robotic to repeatedly scan the bridge and acquire knowledge.”

The HB2 robotic was used to evaluate a bridge in Louisiana in wet, slick circumstances.
Picture courtesy of Wiss Janney, Elstner 

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates already has different concepts of kit its employees need the robotic to move akin to an impression echo, or sounding, which includes tapping a construction and utilizing a sensor to measure the way it responds.

“We’re really doing in-house analysis to develop a system like this that may work with the robotic,” ElBatanouny says. “Jack has been very supportive—he instantly stated he may assist and that it will be a good suggestion.”

Cornes describes the robotic, which is patent pending, as a tractor that carries completely different payloads. HausBot can be working to allow the machine to convey tools for core sampling on concrete that may require some kind of drilling tools.

“We need to encourage as a lot diversification of that tractor as we are able to,” he says. “Our mental property is the tractor bit –the way it sticks to the wall and the way it climbs. However then, after all, we have to companion with consultants just like the [Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates] staff to [look at] tips on how to make this tractor much more helpful. We’ll assist nearly any form of new attachment or adaptation we are able to.”

After piloting the robotic, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates bought the expertise in late 2025 as a result of, in keeping with ElBatanouny, “it makes us higher.”