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Impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Analysis of institutional authors

Hernando, MiguelCorresponding AuthorGambao, ErnestoAuthorPrados, CarlosAuthorBrunete, AlbertoAuthor

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October 17, 2022
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ROMERIN: A new concept of a modular autonomous climbing robot

Publicated to: International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems. 19 (5): 17298806221123416- - 2022-09-01 19(5), DOI: 10.1177/17298806221123416

Authors:

Hernando, Miguel; Gambao, Ernesto; Prados, Carlos; Brito, Daniel; Brunete, Alberto
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Affiliations

Univ Politecn Madrid, CSIC, CAR UPM, Ctr Automat & Robot, Madrid, Spain - Author

Abstract

Climbing robots play an essential role in performing inspection work in civil infrastructures. These tasks require autonomous robots with competitive costs and the ability to adapt to different types of environments. This article presents ROMERIN, a new concept of a modular legged climbing robot where each leg is an autonomous robotic module in terms of processing capacity, control, and energy. The legs are equipped with suction cups that allow the robot to adhere to different types of surfaces. The proposed design allows the creation of climbing robots with a different number of legs to perform specific inspection tasks. Although each of the legs acts as an independent robot, they have the ability to share information and energy. The proposed control concept enables the development of climbing robots with the ability to adapt to different types of inspection tasks and with resilience characteristics. This article includes a description of the mechatronic design, the kinematics of the seven degree-of-freedom robotic legs, including the adhesion system, and the architecture of the control and simulation system. Finally, we present experimental results to test the modularity concept, mechanical design, and electronics using a four-legged robot configuration. We analyze the performance of the gripping system in different situations on four different surfaces and the behavior of the control architecture for two different robot body trajectories.
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Keywords

Climbing robotControl architectureDesignIndustry, innovation and infrastructureInspectionModular robotPower sharing

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Artificial Intelligence. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q4 for the agency WoS (JCR) in the category Robotics.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.4. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-26, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 14
  • Scopus: 14
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-26:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 8 (PlumX).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/90806/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 92
  • Downloads: 56
Continuing with the social impact of the work, it is important to emphasize that, due to its content, it can be assigned to the area of interest of ODS 9 - Industry, innovation and infrastructure, with a probability of 65% according to the mBERT algorithm developed by Aurora University.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (HERNANDO GUTIERREZ, MIGUEL) and Last Author (BRUNETE GONZALEZ, ALBERTO).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been HERNANDO GUTIERREZ, MIGUEL.

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Project objectives

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo principal desarrollar un nuevo concepto de robot modular autónomo para escalada. Se busca analizar el diseño mecatrónico de las patas robóticas con siete grados de libertad y su sistema de adhesión mediante ventosas. Se pretende evaluar la arquitectura de control y simulación que permite la comunicación y compartición de energía entre módulos autónomos. Además, se aspira a caracterizar el desempeño del sistema de agarre en diversas superficies y condiciones. Finalmente, se propone determinar la adaptabilidad y resiliencia del robot en tareas específicas de inspección mediante pruebas experimentales con una configuración de cuatro patas.
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Most relevant results

El estudio presenta ROMERIN, un robot modular autónomo para inspección en infraestructuras civiles. Los resultados más relevantes son: (1) cada pierna funciona como un módulo robótico independiente con capacidad de procesamiento, control y energía propios; (2) el sistema de ventosas permite la adhesión a cuatro tipos diferentes de superficies; (3) la arquitectura de control facilita la comunicación y el intercambio de energía entre las piernas; (4) se validó experimentalmente la modularidad, el diseño mecánico y la electrónica con una configuración de cuatro patas; y (5) se analizaron el desempeño del sistema de agarre y el comportamiento del control en dos trayectorias corporales distintas, demostrando adaptabilidad y resiliencia en tareas de inspección.
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Awards linked to the item

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research leading to these results has received funding from RoboCity2030-DIH-CM, Madrid Robotics Digital Innovation Hub, S2018/NMT-4331, funded by "Programas de Actividades IthornD en la Comunidad de Madrid" and cofinanced by Structural Funds of the EU. The project on which this research is being developed was initially funded by the Spanish National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation, DPI201785738-R.
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