Mimicking the adhesive forces that allow geckos to cling to walls and walk across ceilings, a team of researchers from Kyungpook National University and Dong-A University is attempting to develop a robotic device capable of picking up and releasing delicate materials without damaging them.

While researchers have been able to mimic the gecko's adhesive ability to pick up materials using a previously designed artificial, mushroom-shaped dry adhesive, the researchers sought to develop a mechanism that would enable the device to detach the adhesive from the surface of an object in its grasp, thereby avoiding damage to the object — particularly in instances where the object is fragile.

Source: National Institute for Materials Science

As such, the team solved the detachment issue by employing a vacuum-powered device composed of soft silicon rubber. To detach the dry adhesive without damaging an object in the device’s grip, a twisting and lifting motion pulled the dry adhesive off of a glass object’s surface without inflicting damage. The twisting motion was demonstrated to cause a dramatic reduction in the force required for detaching an object.

In the lab, the team attached the transfer system to a robotic arm and demonstrated that it could handle a delicate glass disk and move it to a different location by gently setting it down without inflicting damage.

The device is detailed in the article “Vacuum-powered soft actuator with oblique air chambers for easy detachment of artificial dry adhesive by coupled contraction and twisting,” which appears in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials.