SICE Annual Conference 2008

August 20-22, 2008, The University Electro-Communications, Japan

Novel Climbing Method of Pruning Robot

Haruhisa Kawasaki1, Suguru Murakami2,
Hideki Kachi2, and Satoshi Ueki3
Department of Human and Information Systems, Gifu University
1
(Tel : +81-58-293-2546 ; E-mail : h_kawasa @gifu-u.ac.jp)
2
(Tel : +81-58-293-2546, {n3128030, n3128006}@edu.gifu-u.ac.jp)
3
(Tel : +81-58-293-2557 ; E-mail :, s_ueki @gifu-u.ac.jp)

Abstract: A novel climbing method of pruning robots is presented. The climbing method is similar to climbing
approach of timberjacks in Japan. Main features include the optimal position of center of mass of the pruning robot that
is located outside of tree and the innovative vertical climbing approach. Four active wheels are set at regular intervals
around the tree, which one pair for upper side and the other for lower side. Each active wheel is driven by a DC
servomotor through a worm gear that has no back drivability. This novel design brings both lightweight and high
climbing speed features of the pruning robot. A basic theory of mechanism design for avoiding falling down from a tree
and experimental results of climbing up for validating the theorem are presented.

Keywords: Pruning robot, climbing robot, timber, forest.

are three research groups of pruning robot in Japan;

1. INTRODUCTION
Timber industry in Japan goes into a decline because
a price of timber is going down every year and
employed workers in forest are rapidly aging. This
causes the dilapidation of forest such as destruction of
plant life and cliff failure at big rainfall and the
dissolution of mountain village society. On the other
hand, pruned tree at suitable trimming is treated as a
worthwhile in Japan because its lumber has beautiful
surface without gnarl and homogeneous quality with
well-formed annual growth ring. Therefore pruning
robot is required toward the sustainable forest
management.
Research and development of pruning robot is scarce.
There is only one commercial product [1]. This robot
climbs a tree spirally and cut brunches by a chainsaw. It
weights more than 25 kgf and has a slow climbing speed.
Moreover, transportation of the pruning robot is a
demanding task because most of slopes of mountains in
Japan are more than 30 degrees and it is not easy to use
a vehicle on such a steep slope. To our knowledge, there
Inch worm type robot in Wabot house [2]-[3], a spiral
climbing robot in Iwate University [4] and a snake type
robot in Kagoshima Natl. Coll. Tech. [5]. Their climbing
speeds are also not so fast. All of these pruning robots
have a pressing or grasping mechanism against a tree to
avoid falling down by the sake of gravity, and are
designed such that a center of mass of the robot is
located in the tree. This results in heavy weight pruning
robots.
Here we propose a novel climbing method of pruning
robot, which locates a center of mass at outside of tree
and uses wheels to climb vertically. This method brings
both lightweight and high climbing speed features of the
pruning robot.
2. NOVEL CLIMBING ROBOT
2.1䎃 Basic theory in two-dimensional space
Toward a lightweight pruning robot, we developed a
novel climbing method, which does not use any
pressing or grasping mechanism but a weight of the
robot itself; like a Japanese traditional timberjack does
for climbing a tree by using a “burinawa” made by rope

Fig.2 Two dimensional model of climbing

Fig.1 Climbing by a timberjack mechanism

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PR0001/08/0000-0160 ¥400 © 2008 SICE
and rod (Fig.1). The timberjack does not hold the tree We consider a climbing robot in three-dimensional
strongly while his center of mass locates outside of the space as shown in Fig. 3. This robot can climb vertically.
tree, and he is supported by the burinawa. For the sake Four active wheels are set at regular intervals around the
of brief explanation of our pruning robot design, a tree, which one pair for upper side and the other for
principle of the developed climbing method is explained lower side.
by a two-dimensional model as shown in Fig. 2. Then, In order to avoid the robot falling down from a tree,
the equilibrium of force are given by the required frictional coefficient between the tree and
the wheel must be deliberately determined. This
µ 1 F 1+ µ 2 F 2 = Mg (1) coefficient depends on the length between upper and
F 1= F 2 (2) lower wheel h, the length from the surface of tree to the
center of mass of the robot w, and an angle around
and the equilibrium of moment at the lower side contact center line of tree between upper and lower wheels θ .
point is given by To define the relations of these parameters, a robot
F 1h − µ1 F 1d = Mgw (3) coordinate system on a center axis of tree Σ o , a contact
coordinate systems at contact point between i-th wheel
where ȝ1 and ȝ2 are friction coefficients, M is a mass of and tree Σ i , and a base coordinate system Σ R are set
the robot, g is a gravity acceleration, F1 and F2 are
as shown in Fig.4.
normal constraint forces at the contact points between
wheels and a tree, h is a length between upper and lower
wheels, d is a diameter of tree, and w is a length from
the surface of tree to the center of mass of the robot. If
µ 1 = µ 2 = µ , then we get
h (4)
µ =
d + 2w
This means that in order to reduce the required friction
coefficient, a smaller value of h and a larger value of w
are more desirable. The normal forces are given by
d + 2w
F1 = F2 = Mg (5)
2hµ
It is noted that values of ȝ1 and ȝ2 depend on the surface
state of tree and both may not equal.

2.2 Kinematics in three-dimensional space

Fig.4 Coordinate systems

When the robot is at a state of rest on the tree, the
force equilibrium is given by
4

¦
i =1
o
R i ( i f i + i f Fi ) + o f g + o f e = 0 (6)

where i f i is a normal contact force at i-th contact

point represented by i-th contact coordinate system,
i
f Fi is a frictional force at i-th contact point
represented by i-th contact coordinate system, o f g is a
gravitational force acting at the center of mass of the
robot represented by Σ o , o f e is an external force
acting on the robot, and o
Ri is a rotational matrix to
Fig.3 Structure of the climbing robot
transform from Σ o to Σ i . The moment equilibrium is

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given by M= 147N, h= 400mm, w= 150mm, and d= 200mm.
4
The required frictional coefficient reduces in
¦ o
p i × o Ri ( i f i + i f Fi )+ o p g × o f g + o p e × o f e = 0 proportional to cos θ . This result shows that the best
i =1 angle is π / 2 rad . Nevertheless, we should consider an
(7) external force when cutting a branch, which will cause
where o
pi is a position vector from the origin of Σ o rotational motion of the robot around center line of tree.
To prevent this rotational motion, θ = π / 4 rad will be
to i-th contact point, o
pi is a position vector from the an optimal choice.
origin of Σ o to the center of mass of robot, and o
pe
is a position vector from the origin of Σ o to a acting
point of external force. Let us consider a coulomb
friction at a contact point as follow;

|| i f Fi ||= µ i || i f i || (8)

where µ i is a friction coefficient at i-th contact point. If

values of all µ i are equal to µ , the robot is at a state of
rest and there is no external force acting on the robot.
Then we get the following equation;
h cos θ Fig.5 Relation between ȝand w
µ= (9)
d + 2w
This equation shows that the required frictional
coefficient depends not only on h, D, w but also on θ .
The normal force is given by
d + 2w
Fi = Mg , for i = 1, ",4 (10)
4hµ cos θ
It is noted that each value of ȝi for i=1,…,4 depends on
the surface state of tree and they may not equal.
Moreover, the normal force will vary according to the
external force.
Fig.6 Relation between ȝand h
2.3 Numerical simulations
Fig.5 shows a relation between the frictional
coefficient and the length from the surface to the center
of mass of the robot. Numerical conditions are as
follows:
M= 147N, h= 400mm, d = 200mm, and ș= 0.785rad .
These parameter values are set by taking an
experimental system presented in section 3 into
consideration. The required frictional coefficient
reduces almost in inverse proportion to w.
Fig.6 shows a relation between the frictional
coefficient and the length between upper and lower
wheels along the vertical direction. Numerical
conditions are as follows:
M= 147N, w= 150mm, d= 200mm, and ș= 0.785rad . Fig.7 Relation between ȝand ș
The required frictional coefficient reduces in
proportional to h. This result shows that smaller h is 3. DEVELOPED PURNING ROBOT
better. However, the value of h is affected by the robot
configuration based on a variation of tree diameters. We developed an experimental climbing robot as
Fig.7 shows a relation between the frictional shown in Fig. 8. This robot has four active wheels and
coefficient and the angle around center line of tree can climb vertically. Four active wheels are set at
between upper and lower side wheels. Numerical regular intervals around the tree, which one pair for
conditions are as follows: upper side and the other for lower side. Each active

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wheel is driven by a DC servomotor through a worm
gear which has no back drivability. The center of mass
of the robot lies at outside of the tree. Hence, this robot
can rest on the tree without any pressing or grasping
mechanism against a tree. The designed mechanical
parameters of the robot are as follows:
M = 150 N, h = 0.4 m, d = 0.1 m, and w = 0.15 m.
Fig.8 Developed climbing robot
4. EXPERIMENT
Graphs of vertical climbing responses from an
experiment are shown in Fig.9. Desired position is
computed by taking deformation of the wheel tire into
consideration. Diameter of the wheel tire is 120 mm and its
deformation ratio at climbing is 0.094, which was
(a) Position
(b) Velocity
Fig.9 Experiment climbing responses
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obtainedexperimentally. The position of the pruning
robot is measured by 3D measurement system
(Optorack Certus by Northern Digital Inc.). A difference
between a desired position and a measured position was
caused by a slipping of wheels. From this Fig.9(a), slip
ratio of the wheel is about 20 %. This shows that a
wheel control method taking 䎃 the wheel slip into
consideration is required. Also the climbing speed is
about 0.04m/s (Fig.9(b)), which does not satisfy the
required specification. The reason is a lack of
servomotor power.
These experimental results confirm the feasibility of
the proposed climbing method utilizing the robot own
weight.
5. CONCLUSIONS
A novel climbing method of pruning robots is
presented. The climbing method is similar to the
climbing approach of traditional timberjacks in Japan.
Main features are that a center of mass of the pruning
robot is located outside of tree and the robot climbs the
tree vertically. A basic theory to design the mechanism
for avoiding falling down from a tree and experimental
results of climbing up are presented to show the validity
of the theorem.
When a pruning robot cuts a branch, it receives the
reaction force of the cutting. Moreover, diameter of the
tree varies from bottom to top of tree, which affects the
robot configuration and the climbing performance. To
establish a stable climbing method, the further analysis
taking these factors into consideration is needed.
ACKNOWLEDMENT
The authors’ thanks are addressed to the members of
the pruning robot research project of Gifu University
and Dr. Winai Chonnaparamutt.
REFERENCES
[1] Seirei Industry Co., LED Web Site, “http://www.
seirei.com/ products/fore/b232r/ab232r.html
[2] Y. Kushihashi et. al., Development of Structure of
Measuring Grasping Power to Control Simplification of
Tree, Climbing and Pruning Robot, Woody-1 Proc. of
the 2006 JSME Conference on Robotics and
Mechatronics, No.06-4,1A1-E08 (2006) (in Japanese)
[3]䎃 Y. Suga et. al., Development of Tree-climbing and
Pruning Robot –WOODY- Actuator Arrangement on the
End of Arms for Revolving Motion, Proc. of SI2006, p.
1267-1268, 2006 (in Japanese)
[4] T. Yokoyama et. al., Proc. of the 2006 JSME
Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics,
No.06-4,2P1-D31( 2006) (in Japanese)
[5] T. Yamada, Study on a Pruning System Using
Robots, —Proposal of a Fundamental Concept—, Proc.
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