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A team of researchers from China and the U.S. has created a robot that is able to mimic a remora fish by adhering quickly and strongly to underwater objects. 
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"Charles Darwin was the first to observe that Ivy exudes a liquid adhesive that helps it to cling to surfaces. Now researchers at Ohio State University have identified the protein that allows Ivy to stick. Nanospherical arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) allow Ivy’s adhesive to enter nanoscale openings rather than just coating surfaces. Curing takes place due to calcium-driven electrostatic interactions among carboxyl groups of the AGPs and pectic acids. As water evaporates from the adhesive, chemical bonds are formed between adhesive and substrate. The researchers say that their discovery opens up the possibility of applying its findings to the development of adhesives for a wide range of applications ranging from medical adhesives to coatings and even cosmetics."
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"Dearborn, Michigan based car maker, Ford Motor Company, is working with Procter & Gamble to develop an adhesive inspired by geckos to improve the recyclability of its cars. Ford said that its researchers have considered ways to make auto manufacturing more sustainable for years. A key challenge is glue used to adhere foams to plastics and metals can make disassembling parts for recycling nearly impossible.
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"An international team of scientists led by Newcastle University, UK, and funded by the US Office of Naval Research, have shown for the first time that barnacle larvae release an oily droplet to clear the water from surfaces before sticking down using a phosphoprotein adhesive."
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"A team of scientists at the University of Massachusetts has developed a new, reusable adhesive based on the feet of the gecko – the lizard that licks its own eyeballs and climbs up walls. Around 60% of gecko species have adhesive toe pads and these pads were the inspiration for Geckskin – a device that can attach and detach from materials and surfaces repeatedly."
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"You know that pesky soap holder whose suction cup never stays attached to the shower wall? Scientists may now have a solution: mimic the clingfish. These fish live in the intertidal zone—the area at the ocean’s edge where waves are constantly crashing against algae-covered rocks. Despite strong currents and even stronger waves, clingfish survive here by using the mechanism that earned them their name: they cling to the rocks with an adhesive disc on their abdomens that is unhindered by rough, slippery or wet surfaces. With this grip engaged, the fish can prey on mollusks attached to the rocks. We’re talking an unstoppable suction that is also fast and reversible."
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To solve such problems as medical tape that rips tender skin, scientists look to nature for answers.
Sam McCormick's curator insight,
March 20, 2013 8:55 AM
This article provides a number of examples of biomimetics informing medical technology. While not all are directly related to robotics, some do offer exciting possibilities including adhesive that sticks in wet conditions (for post implantation modifications or adhesion to internal anatomical structures) and a biodegradable chip that dissolves safely into the blood stream.
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A new study provides details of the structure and tissue properties of the unique adhesion system used by remora fish to attach themselves to sharks and other marine animals. The information could lead to a new engineered reversible adhesive.
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More than five years ago we first wrote about Geckel, a biomimetic adhesive based on geckos' and mussels' ability to stick to things. But as of this year the material was still "under development." Perhaps Duncan Irschick and Alfred Crosby, from UMass Amherst, will have better luck. The pair of scientists--one from Biology, the other from Polymer Science & Engineering--have devised "Geckskin," a reusable tape that can reportedly stick something weighing 700 pounds to a flat wall. Manufacturers of wall mounts for flatscreen TVs ought to be worried.
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A whale’s skin is easily glommed up with barnacles, algae, bacteria and other sea creatures, but sharks stay squeaky-clean. Although these parasites can pile onto a shark’s rippled skin too, they can’t take hold and thus simply wash away. Now scientists have printed that pattern on an adhesive film that will repel bacteria pathogens from hospitals and public restrooms.
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The Asian green mussel (Perna viridis) anchors itself underwater by timed secretion of adhesive proteins from threadlike foot extensions, a team of researchers in Singapore finds1.
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A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket loaded with supplies and science experiments blasted off from Florida on Tuesday, boosting an Orbital ATK cargo capsule toward the International Space Station.[...] Perched on top of the rocket was a Cygnus capsule loaded with nearly 7,500 pounds (3,400 kg) of food, science experiments and equipment including a 3-D printer to build tools for astronauts and non-stick grippers modeled after gecko feet.[...] The experimental Gecko Gripper is a new kind of adhesive that mimics the way gecko lizards cling to surfaces without falling. It aims to test a method of attaching things in the weightless environment of space. NASA is looking at robotic versions of gecko feet to attach sensors and other instruments onto and inside satellites. Photo details: Leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius), George Chernilevsky,2009. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
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"Part of the yogurt eating ritual has always been licking the food off the foil lid. Over the course of a year, the yogurt stuck to lids worldwide is equivalent to the volume consumed in Africa, according to a calculation by Toyo Aluminium. Morinaga Milk Industry is doing something about that: Its lids peel off clean with no stuck yogurt. The company uses a special lid developed in cooperation with Toyo Aluminium. It is based on a packaging technology Toyo calls "Toyal Lotus." The material's structural inspiration was the lotus leaf, which is famous for its ability to shed water and remain dry."
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The frog looks nearly asleep, when suddenly its tongue darts out, snaring an unsuspecting insect. What makes its tongue so sticky? Find out...
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"Adhesion is an extremely important factor in living nature: insects can climb up walls, plants can twine up them, and cells are able to adhere to surfaces. During evolution, many of them developed mushroom-shaped adhesive structures and organs. Lars Heepe and his colleagues at Kiel University have discovered why the specific shape is advantageous for adhesion. The answer is in homogeneous stress distribution between a surface and the adhesive element. [...] The findings of the study made in Kiel can be used for further development of glue-free adhesive surfaces with enhanced performance."
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"Researchers at the University of Leeds are using the feet of tree frogs as a model for a tiny robot designed to crawl inside patients’ bodies during keyhole surgery."
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"Legions of animal-inspired robots are being created to improve military missions and disaster response efforts—from crawling cockroach-like RHex bots to leaping Sand Flea robots and the speeding Cheetah machines. Now, a squishier source for smart robo-tech has joined the ranks: octopuses."
Sam McCormick's curator insight,
March 20, 2013 9:01 AM
This article invesigates biomimetics, 3D printing and the prospect of better grip for robotic hands. As control over the suckers improves, the way could be opened for less rigid gripping digits. This may overcome some of the challenges associated with robots gripping unknown and irregularly shaped objects.
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A University of British Columbia researcher has helped create a gel - based on the mussel's knack for clinging to rocks, piers and boat hulls - that can be painted onto the walls of blood vessels and stay put, forming a protective barrier with potentially life-saving implications.
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University of Akron's Research into Geckos' Natural Stickiness may Pay Off in Companies and Products
The University of Akron's research into what makes geckos' feet stick to almost anything -- part of an emerging field called bio-inspiration -- could have big payoffs in industrial adhesives, electronics, robotics and other fields.
's curator insight, December 30, 2014 1:41 AM
We Know gecko's are cool - we just didn't realize they were this cool! |
