Climbing rough vertical surfaces with hierarchical directional adhesion

— Prior research in biology and mechanics has shown the importance of hierarchy to the performance of dry adhesive systems on rough surfaces. The gecko utilizes several levels of hierarchy that operate on length scales from millimeters to 100s of nanometers in order to maneuver on smooth and rough vertical surfaces ranging from glass to rock. The gecko’s hierarchical system serves two main purposes: it permits conformation to the surface for a large effective area of contact, and it distributes the load evenly among contacting elements. We present a new two-tiered directional adhesive system that provides these capabilities for a geckoinspired climbing robot. The distal features consist of wedgeshaped structures with a base width of 50 µm and a height of approximately 180 µm. The wedges are mounted atop angled cylindrical features, 380 µm in diameter by approximately 1 mm long. Together, the proximal and distal features bend preferentially in the direction of inclination when lo...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: ICRA
• Authors: Alan T. Asbeck, Sanjay Dastoor, Aaron Parness, Laurel Fullerton, Noe Esparza, Daniel Soto, Barrett Heyneman, Mark R. Cutkosky
• Keywords: ICRA 2009, Robotics, Rough Surfaces, Rough Vertical Surfaces, Vertical Surfaces