| 摘要 |
A vehicle is disclosed that can operate on either flat or curved surfaces, i.e. of varying radii of curvature and whether concave or convex. The vehicle is provided with a detachable and / or interchangeable downforce generator mounted movably in relation to the wheels / wheel equivalent means in the roll, pitch and yaw planes as well as in the Z plane, i.e. essentially normal to the plane, or to a tangent to the plane, of the surface to which the vehicle is adjacent. The wheels / wheel equivalents can also articulate relative to the downforce generator to ensure that the wheels / wheel equivalents conform to the varying surface topography and maximise traction. A variety of mounting means and methods on moving with these mounting means are taught. The detachable and / or interchangeable downforce generator may be a vortex generator, a magnetic device, a device employing passive or active pneumatic suckers and a compressor, non-contact Bernoulli grip adhesion cups, a device employing induced electro-adhesion means, a device employing microscopic cilia gecko-like means, or any other applicable downforce generator technology. A wide range of surveillance, inspection and conducting engineering operations are taught. |
