简介:Climbingrobotsareofpotentialuseforsurveillance,inspectionandexplorationindifferentenvironments.Inparticular,theuseofclimbingrobotsforspaceexplorationcanallowscientiststoexploreenvironmentstoochallengingfortraditionalwheeleddesigns.Toadheretosurfaces,biomimeticdryadhesivesbasedongeckofeethavebeenproposed.Thesebiomimeticdryadhesivesworkbyusingmulti-scalecompliantmechanismstomakeintimatecontactwithdifferentsurfacesandadherebyusingVanderWaalsforces.Fabricationoftheseadhesiveshasfrequentlybeenchallenginghowever,duetothedifficultyincombiningmacro,microandnanoscalecompliance.Wepresentanallpolymerfootdesignforusewithahexapodclimbingrobotandafabricationmethodtoimprovereliabilityandyield.Ahighstrength,low-modulussilicone,TC-5005,isusedtoformthefootbaseandmicroscalefibresinonepiecebyusingatwopartmold.Amacroscalefootdesignisproducedusinga3Dprintertoproduceabasemold,whilelithographicdefinitionofmicroscalefibresinathickphotoresistformsthe‘hairs’ofthepolymerfoot.Theadhesionofthesiliconefibresbythemselvesorattachedtothemacrofootisexaminedtodeterminebeststrategiesforplacementandremovaloffeettomaximizeadhesion.Resultsdemonstratethesuccessfulintegrationofmicroandmacrocompliantfeetforuseinclimbingonavarietyofsurfaces.