Gecko inspires wall climbing robot for future space missions

Researchers from ESA and Simon Fraser University in Canada subjected gecko-inspired ‘dry adhesive’ materials to space vacuum and temperatures, finding the stickiness is retained throughout.

Engineers from the University’s School of Engineering Science have demonstrated such adhesives with a family of ‘Abigaille’ crawling robots.

‘This approach is an example of ‘biomimicry’, taking engineering solutions from the natural world,’ said Michael Henrey of Simon Fraser University.

A gecko’s feet are sticky due to hairs with ends measuring100–200 nanometres across. This is sufficiently tiny that atomic interactions between the ends of the hairs and the surface come into play.

‘We’ve borrowed techniques from the microelectronics industry to make our own footpad terminators,’ he said in a statement. ‘Technical limitations mean these are around 100 times larger than a gecko’s hairs, but they are sufficient to support our robot’s weight.’

Interested in assessing the adhesive’s suitability for space, Henrey tested it in ESA’s Electrical Materials and Process Labs, based in the Agency’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, with additional support from ESA’s Automation and Robotics Lab.