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Cicak, Cicak... Gecko-Inspired Robot Climbs Walls
Richard Ingham | November 04, 2011

The 240-gram robot can scale vertical walls thanks to tracks that are covered with microfibers modeled on a gecko’s toe hairs. (AFP Photo) The 240-gram robot can scale vertical walls thanks to tracks that are covered with microfibers modeled on a gecko’s toe hairs. (AFP Photo)
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Paris. Inspired by the gecko, scientists have developed a tank-like robot that can scale vertical walls and crawl over ledges without using suction cups, glue or other liquid bonds to adhere to the surface.

The 240-gram beast has tracks that are covered with dry microfibers modeled on the toe hairs of the gecko, which can famously zip up windows and along walls almost without effort.

The lizard does the trick thanks to millions of ultra-fine hairs called setae, which interact with the climbing surface to create a molecular attraction known as the van der Waals force.

Described on Tuesday in the British research journal Smart Materials and Structure, the robot’s tracks are studded with mushroom-shaped caps of polymer microfibers just 0.017 millimeters wide and 0.01 mm high.

By comparison, a human hair is around 0.1 mm thick.

“While van der Waals forces are considered to be relatively weak, the thin, flexible overhang provided by the mushroom cap ensures that the area of contact between the robot and the surface is maximized,” explained researcher Jeff Krahn of the Simon Fraser University at Burnaby, in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

“The adhesive pads on geckos follow this same principle by utilizing a large number of fibers, each with a very small tip. The more fibers a gecko has in contact, the greater attachment force it has on a surface.”

The tank-bot has a fore and aft section, each with two tracks, and an articulated joint in the middle to help it move from flat surfaces to corners.

A video shows it being put through its paces, climbing at speeds of up to 3.4 centimeters per second. The gadget weighs 240 grams but tests show that it could take an additional load of 110 grams.

Still a small experimental design, the robot is attached to an umbilical cord providing power and control signals, but eventually will be kitted out with a battery and a computer brain to give it more autonomy, the research team says.

If all goes well, dozens of applications lie ahead.

Wall-climbing robots could be used to clean windows, inspect buildings, crawl up pipes and help in search-and-rescue operations.

A team at Stanford University in California has been adopting a different approach, using gecko-like fibers on feet, rather than tracks, to help its robot climb.

But tracks, driven by belts, are likely to have the advantage because they have a simpler mechanical design, Krahn says.

Track power can be easily expanded — like adding a locomotive to a train — when a bigger load has to be taken, he adds.

“We unfortunately haven’t as of yet calculated a cost for achieving a practical gecko robot as we are still in the prototyping stage,” the researcher added in an e-mail exchange.

Agence France-Presse