Slashdot Mirror
Gecko-Inspired Robot Rolls Up Walls
RedEaredSlider writes "A group of researchers in Canada has decided to combine the mechanism geckos use to stick to walls with the simplicity of a tank tread. The result is a 'bot that can roll up smooth (and some not so smooth) surfaces. Such robots are easier to control than those that try to simulate walking directly."
Oh great, now we're going to have robots trying to sell us car insurance?
Looks like such a thing could be a nice climber for those space elevator contests.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
THEN you can go building robots!
I for one welcome our new wall climbing overloards
This could be a very good idea
awesome
will this work??
Wall-crawling robot +
wireless webcam +
hot girl on the top floor of the building next to mine who rarely closes her curtains...
At least, that's what I heard
Am I the only one who read the Slashdot article title and immediately thought of real-life Katamari Damacy?
I was really hoping for a robotic gecko that looked like Prince and could roll up... well, everything.
"This sky is not pretty at all. It's rough and masculine. Possibly sweaty..."
Very similar, though different technology.
The article from 2008 was about using electric charges to keep the robot on walls.
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/08/05/28/2239219/new-robots-developed-to-climb-walls
Short Circuit 3: Johnny Climbs
All glory to Arstotzka!
Now make a Spider-Man suit with it.
Rolling up walls is pretty cool, but webkit-inspired robots can draw web pages!
Sorry, that's the best I could come up with. Yes, I'll be here all week. Sorry..
Ceiling Robot Is Watching You...
Call me when they make an Abrams that can do that.
Is clearly the US Military. Right now, the Army/Marines are throwing money at man-portable robots like crazy. Anyone who can come up with some semi-plausable improvement to the existing robots (which are bulky, seldom hold a charge for 8 hours, and known to have a poor center of gravity so they often land on their side) can get a $2M grant from DARPA just by mocking up a non-functional prototype at this point.
Granted, this seems like an actual improvement. I mean, I can see how throwing the robot through a window and having it stick to a wall on impact (if combined with some really good sound dampeners and/or shock absorbers) could allow troops to deploy one of these without letting the occupants inside know it's there. That along is a very meaningful upgrade to the existing systems. Still, this is clearly DARPA grant-bait.
Shrink it a little, add LED headlights, a small camera and a spool of high-strength fishing line, and you've got a great tool for running new cables through existing walls and ceilings.
Who WOULDN'T want one of these?
Shouldn't a story all about a robot have the robot icon? Seems strange to have the hardware icon in this case.
The robot can climb walls AND save you up to 15% on your car insurance. Brilliant!