I had to watch the (40 sec.) video a couple times to better marvel at the ‘gecko robot’ that a team of researchers at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada) have developed.

Here’s a little more information from the Nov. 2, 2011 posting by GrrlScientist on her Punctuated Equilibrium blog at the Guardian science blogs site,

Geckos are amazing animals for so many reasons, but their ability to climb glass windows is especially amazing since their sticky toes are not at all moist, as one would expect. Instead, gecko toes are dry, their adhesive ability the result of van der Waals forces. These are very weak, attractive forces that occur between molecules. For this reason, the gecko’s dry but sticky toe pads have long inspired scientists and engineers, especially mechanical engineers trying to design wall-climbing robots.

It looks like someone has finally succeeded. According to a hot-off-the-presses paper, a group of researchers from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, have finally developed a robot – nowhere near as elegant in form as a gecko – that has the gecko’s ability to scale smooth walls and shuffle across ceilings without crashing down onto anyone’s head.

Here are some more details about the technology and the researchers (from the Nov. 1, 2011 SFU media release),

Known as the Tailless Timing Belt Climbing Platform (TBCP-11), the robot can transfer from a flat surface to a wall over both inside and outside corners at speeds of up to 3.4 cm per second. It is fitted with sensors that allow it to detect its surroundings and change direction.

Researchers mimicked the “dry, sticky toe pads” of the gecko by creating an adhesive using a material called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), manufactured as tiny mushroom cap-like shapes that are 17 micrometres wide by 10 micrometres high.

Meanwhile, tiny belts drive the robot’s tank-like moves, providing optimum mobility and expandability.

Lead author Jeff Krahn’s work on getting the robot to climb formed the bulk of his master’s thesis. The research was carried out together with engineering science assistant professor Carlo Menon.

This is the smoothest, most efficient climbing robot (stickybot) that I’ve seen. My August 26, 2011 posting featured  stickybots (with video) from  researchers at Stanford University.