Gecko Inspired Robot Climbs Walls at Stanford

telomerewhythere writes "Stanford mechanical engineer Mark Cutkosky is using the biology of a gecko's sticky foot to create a robot that climbs. In the same way the small reptile can scale a wall of slick glass, the Stickybot can climb smooth surfaces with feet modeled on the intricate design of gecko toes. The team's new project involves scaling up the material for humans. A technology called Z-Man, which would allow humans to climb with gecko adhesive, is in the works."

Comments

Gecko-Man, Gecko-Man, does whatever a gecko can...

[tverbeek]

Just keep in mind that – thanks to the cube/square law and other physical principles – not all biological feats can be scaled up or down.

Prototype This...?

[Omega Hacker]

Apparently /. missed seeing this episode something like 2 years ago, where they tried this as well as another tech for climbing. The gecko foot was very hard to reproduce and didn't have the cling, while feet made of 100's of jointed fish-hooks successfully took a human a few dozen feet up a wall. Yay for old news...

Re:Prototype This...?

[derGoldstein]

Here's the history:

First Stickybot (~2007)
The Gecko-Woman from the "Prototype This" episode (~2008)
Third Stickybot (April, this year)

How about Googling the stories before posting them? This is why it's worth checking the firehose often. There are plenty of good stories that are skipped for reasons I can't fathom, but "olds" are posted whenever they need to plug a hole in the news stream (usually on the weekend).

Re:Prototype This...?

[camperslo]

Apparently /. missed seeing this episode something like 2 years ago...

There have been recent advances, the Stanford researcher is having better results than previous work mentioned in the earlier articles. From this one:

"The newest versions of the adhesive, developed in 2009, have a two-layer system, similar to the gecko's lamellae and setae. The "hairs" are even smaller than the ones on the first version - about 20 micrometers wide, which is five times thinner than a human hair. These versions support higher loads and allow Stickybot to climb surfaces such as wood paneling, painted metal and glass."

Re:Gecko-Man, Gecko-Man, does whatever a gecko can

[Ethanol-fueled]

not all biological feats can be scaled up or down.

Not all biological feets can be scaled up or down.

Can it save you money on auto insurance?

[Joe The Dragon]

Can it save you money on auto insurance?

We did it again.

[ChristianMc]

Robots that can climb walls, you don't say? Well, I suppose that makes it easier for them to climb into our bedrooms at night to kill us. It'll make the robot uprising that much quicker.

Re:Gecko-Man, Gecko-Man, does whatever a gecko can

[martin-boundary]

not all biological feats can be scaled up or down.

Not all biological feets can be scaled up or down.

Not all biological feet can be scaled (up or down).

An interesting anecdote

[Rexdude]

The Indian monitor lizard is also known for wedging itself tightly into crevices and holding onto rocks. It was famously used by the Marathas to scale the walls of a fortress during the battle of Sinhagad by tying a rope to its tail and releasing it to climb the wall.

Re:Can effect be enhanced by electro-statics?

[MillionthMonkey]

Could this be enhanced by applying a small electro-static charge?

Not according to this guy from Stanford who starts talking about geckos at 12:40 and claims electrostatic forces have no effect at 17:30.

Re:Not the first effort

[Joebert]

The TFA doesn't

You are hereby banned from using acronyms until further notice.

Designs

[MikeDataLink]

"feet modeled on the intricate design of gecko toes"

Interesting. I thought they evolved. ;-)