Tag: Gecko

A few years ago we saw a prototype for a robot with gecko-like pads, allowing it to stick to and move on uneven and vertical surfaces. A group of Stanford students made two robots with the same inspiration, but this time instead of settling for wall-climbing, these tiny robots are designed to drag objects that are a hundred to two thousand times their own weight. Stanford students David Christensen, Elliot Hawkes, Arul Suresh and Karen Ladenheim developed what they call µTugs or MicroTugs.

I’m not a big fan of lizards, they are gross, they try to bite you, and if you do catch a lizard, it will either poop on you or its tail will break off. Getting left holding a dismembered lizard tail is one of the more unsettling experiences in life.

The gecko. Nature’s car insurance salesman, climber of walls, rocks and trees everywhere. Roboticists are finally getting a handle on how to mimic this creatures characteristics in robot form.