Duke Robot Climbs to Victory in Madrid

neutron_p writes "A wall-climbing, book-sized autonomous vehicle made by a Duke University team drove up a challenging vertical course to win first prize in an international competition in Madrid. Their robot Wallter was the only one that could start flat on the floor and climb the wall on its own, go over a barrier across the wall or stop itself after crossing the finish line."

Comments

Book shaped robot

[fembots]

I was initially excited about this tom-cruise rock climbing robot until I saw the photo, it is not only book sized, but book shaped too.

Anyhow, the article mentioned "tornado in a cup" technology - "Two vortexes swirl simultaneously, one in a spiral and the other in a toroidal path, like a donut. The forces generated hold the vehicle to the wall and yet allow free movement because the cup never touches the surface." Like a hovercraft that sucks?

However, later in the article, there was mention of magnets - "We tried a wheelie bar to keep the rear end of the robot flat against the wall and prevent the front from lifting up. Unfortunately, the results were disappointing. Time was running out so we had to add magnets and take advantage of the metal."

This makes me wonder if it's the magnets that hold the robot, or the new "tornado in a cup"?

--
Play iCLOD Virtual City Explorer and win Half-Life 2

Re:Book shaped robot

[NickF]

This makes me wonder if it's the magnets that hold the robot, or the new "tornado in a cup"?

Go back and read it again, the magnets were only needed to help in getting over the 1cm barrier.

More than just a cliche!

[American AC in Paris]

From the article:

According to Burney, the Duke vehicle set itself apart when it rolled to the foot of a metallic wall, reared up on its hind wheels, and used a "tornado in a cup" to hug the wall and start its ascent...

..."It's a tornado in a cup, but no ordinary tornado," Janet said. "Two vortexes swirl simultaneously, one in a spiral and the other in a toroidal path, like a donut. The forces generated hold the vehicle to the wall and yet allow free movement because the cup never touches the surface."

Huh. Duke really does suck!

attachment for the roomba?

[Over_and_Done]

When will we see this as an add-on for the roomba? Then I could get all of the spiderwebs off of the walls and ceiling, and get the stairs done.

Question

[Anonymous Coward]

From the article:

The device uses air currents swirling in a cylinder, about the size of an upside-down tuna can, to exert suction on a wall or ceiling.

How is the size of a tuna can any different just because it is upside-down?

make your own

[theMerovingian]

make your own

google cache, since we would deestroy geocities

Painting the walls?

[se2schul]

Could this be the beginnings of a wall-painting robot? Painting is a tedious task and now that there is a wall climbing robot, I say duct tape a paintbrush to its ass!!

OFFICIAL PAGES

[MTO_B.]

The mentioned contest is CLAWAR 2004 - MADRID . (See hundreds of pictures if you wish).

It's part of CLAWAR Climbing and Walking Robots. As you can see, the mentioned robot had a very different design from the usual spider-like design.

Cheaters never prosper

[Tablizer]

I threw a glob of putty on the wall and filmed it sliming down. Then I played it backward at the competition. I almost won until those pesky kids with the talking dog exposed my cheating.