To make robots more autonomous and efficient, researchers sometimes draw the animal kingdom. Thus, it is by observing that the gecko engineer at Stanford University (USA) has designed the Stickybot, a robot climber. This helps himself to mechanical bearings installed under the legs to climb smooth surfaces. The pads have been propagated through the observation of the animal. The project manager, Sangbae Kim and his colleagues first studied the best way to make it adhere to any surface. The lizard has adhesive strips on each of his fingers that allow him to move without falling, even vertically.

Force van der Waals

The adhesive force of each of the lamella is so strong it could withstand the weight of the animal. In detail, the pads of a gecko’s feet are covered with a forest of micro hairs, called setae. These “setae”, in turn, branch into hundreds of smaller hairs called spatulas. These hairs cling to surfaces using tiny electrical interactions known as the “strength of Van der Waals. This set of processes that researchers have reproduced mechanically.

Animals synonymous with mobility

Potential applications of Stickybot are important repair underwater pipelines, monitoring of buildings, and even washing windows. It is also possible to consider the same membership system integrated with the climbing equipment. Build on animals is a constant among researchers. This is where the center CoTeSys who studied the brain of the fly and trying to reproduce it to make robots more responsive and precise in their movements. Or of the IRCCyN and his robot, which copies the field emitted by electric eel to explore the murky water in three dimensions.