Gecko-inspired structured adhesives will be valuable for novel climbing and space robots. Robots also provide useful evaluation platforms for these adhesives. Climbing robots need to be lightweight, and thus many designs use multiple feet on a single rotating wheel-leg. Generally, such designs have not been able to walk robustly on steeper than vertical substrates. In this work, we use an improved version of our previous Mushroom-Shaped Adhesive MicroStructured (MSAMS) tape to support a power-autonomous robot reliably walking inverted on glass ceilings. The resulting speeds are greater than one body/length per second, faster than other adhesion-based climbing prototypes. The printed robot design is also a contribution toward future robotic designs and will have future applications in testing new adhesives for robotic feet.

The Biologically Inspired Robotics group at Case Western Reserve University has developed several innovative designs for a new kind of robot that uses peristalsis, the method of locomotion used by earthworms. Unlike previous wormlike robots, our concept uses a continuously deformable outer mesh that interpolates the body position between discrete actuators. Here, we summarize our progress with this soft hyper-redundant robot.

While soft-bodied animals have an extraordinarily diverse set of robust behaviors, soft-bodied robots have not yet achieved this flexiblity. In this paper, we explore controlling a truly continuously deformable structure with a CPG-like network. Our recently completed soft wormlike robot with a continuously deformable outer mesh, along with a continuum analysis of peristalsis, has suggested the neural control investigated here. We use a Wilson-Cowan neuronal model in a continuum arrangement that mirrors the arrangement of muscles in an earthworm. We show that such a system is well suited to incorporate sensory input and can create both rhythmic and nonrhythmic activity. The system can be controlled using straightforward descending signals whose effects are largely decoupled and can modulate the properties from CPG-like behaviors to static waves. This approach will be useful for designing robotic systems that express multiple adaptive behavioral modes.

This paper describes the latest additions to the Mini-Whegs™ series of small robots. These new robots are fully enclosed, measure 9 to 10 cm long, and range in weight from 90 g to 190 g. Mini-Whegs™ 7 weighs less than 90 g, but can run at over three body-lengths per second and surmount 3.8 cm high obstacles. The most recent iteration, Mini-Whegs™ 9J, incorporates fully independent running and jumping modes of locomotion. The controllable jumping mechanism allows it to leap as high as 18 cm.

Abstract – The ability to walk on surfaces regardless of the presence or direction of gravity can significantly increase the mobility of a robot for both terrestrial and space applications. Insects and geckos can provide inspiration for both novel adhesive technology and for the locomotory mechanisms employed during climbing. For this work, Mini-Whegs™, a small quadruped robot that uses wheel-legs for locomotion, was altered to explore the feasibility of scaling vertical surfaces using compliant, adhesive feet. Modifications were made to reduce its weight, and its legs were redesigned to enable its feet to better attach and detach from the substrate, mimicking homologous actions observed in animals. The resulting vehicle is selfcontained, power-autonomous, and weighs only 87 grams. Using pressure-sensitive tape, it is capable of walking up a vertical surface, walking upside-down along an inverted surface, and transitioning between orthogonal surfaces. Index Terms – Biologically inspired robotics, wall-climbing robots, adhesive-based climbing vehicles.

This paper describes novel highly mobile small robots called "mini-whegs" that can run and jump. They are derived from our larger whegs series of robots, which benefit from abstracted cockroach locomotion principles. Key to their success are the three spoked appendages, called "whegs", which combine the speed and simplicity of wheels with the climbing mobility of legs. To be more compact than the larger whegs vehicles, mini-whegs uses four whegs in an alternating diagonal gait. These 9 cm long robots can run at sustained speeds of over 10 body lengths per second and climb obstacles that are taller than their leg length. They can run forward and backward, on either side. Their robust construction allows them to tumble down a flight of stairs with no damage and carry a payload equal to twice their weight. A jumping mechanism has also been developed that enables mini-whegs to surmount much larger obstacles, such as stair steps.