Development of a Stair Descending and Traversing Mechanism for a Cleaning Robot

The development and commercialization of domestic floor cleaning robots has increased rapidly over recent years, however these remain limited to operation on flat floors without stairs. A small number of stair cleaning robots have been proposed in the academic literature, however these generally incorporate complex stair climbing and descending mechanisms that may inhibit their commercialization. In this work, we propose that in most practical applications, a domestic stair and floor cleaning robot needs only the capability to descend (not ascend) a staircase. We present the design and construction of a first prototype for a new stair descending and sideways-traversing mechanism that could be applied to such a domestic cleaning robot. The conceptual, embodiment and detailed design stages of this development, including mechanical analysis, control system design, and material selection, are described in detail. The robot chassis was manufactured by 3D printing and laser cutting. An evaluation of the assembled prototype is also presented.