Technology of Robotics

Scientists in the U.S. has managed to replicate the design principle of a foot lizards. This allows a robot walking up to a glass surface. Next, the scientists want to allow even people.

Stickybot developed in the United States is one of the robots that can climb like a gecko on a vertical surface. Initially, the surface remains to be rough, like a brick wall. Meanwhile, the robot can also climb on the smooth surface, holding about a glass dish.

To teach Stickybot to climb, Mark Cutkosky and his team of scientists from Stanford University in California created the foot lizard. Gecko toe consists of lamellae, which is filled with lots of hair. It’s finer than a human hair.

Hair is divided at the end, the fibers are very small molecules interact with surfaces, which will make the lizard climbing: It creates an attractive force, called van der Waals force, which holds the gecko on the wall.

The designers have recreated this principle to Stickybot: They develop artificial materials that have the same effect as the toes of geckos. The solution is a rubber-like materials with tiny hairs from the polymer.

Tags: climber robot, Gecko robot, Mark Cutkosky, stickybot