Scientists from Stanford have built a series of super-strong robots, New Scientist reports, including one that weighs less than a half an ounce yet can haul up to 52 pounds.
The design of these Schwarzenegger-like bots is based on adhesive feet inspired by geckos.
Here is an excerpt detailing how the robots work:
The adhesives are covered in minute rubber spikes that grip firmly onto the wall as the robot climbs. When pressure is applied, the spikes bend, increasing their surface area and thus their stickiness. When the robot picks its foot back up, the spikes straighten out again and detach easily.
Besides the one robot mentioned above, Stanford scientists also claim to have developed a tiny 20 milligram bot that can carry 500 milligrams as well as a 9-gram robot that can pull over 2 pounds as it climbs walls.
Pretty impressive!
The long-term goal is to eventually scale up these robots for real world applications in hauling heavy loads.
