Mechanical Analysis And Experimental Verification Of Geckos Attachment With Low Preloading And Rapid Detachment

There are a wide range of needs in civil, aerospace and military fields for wall-climbing robots, and one of the key problems is the design of adhesion system. Gekko gecko in nature is the largest reptile with the ability of TDOF(Three-Dimension-Obstacle-Free), whose hierarchical adhesion system provides us with an excellent prototype to design and develop similar structures in bio-inspired climbing robots. The exceedingly good adhesion system of geckos enables them to attach to almost all substrates with low preloading and to detach from the substrates rapidly with low impact, but the mechanism has not been totally uncovered. In order to reflect the mechanism of the adhesion system of geckos and optimize existing ones of bio-inspired climbing robots, the main content of this paper could be outlined as follows:Firstly, the traditional biomechanical method was introduced to solve above problems. We attempted to obtain the architectural feature of gecko's toes and lamellas by producing frozen sections and following microscopy characterization; as for the mechanical properties of them, we acquired them by reviewing the related literatures.Secondly, 3D models of the lamella and the toe were established, and finite element analysis(FEA) was carried out on coupling model of the toe with the lamella and on coupling model of the lamella with the seta. We found that the lamella played a role of secondary regulation by increasing or decreasing the stretch on the tendons in the process of attachment or detachment, respectively.Finally, we designed and manufactured a mold of the lamella with the help of Rapid Prototyping Manufacturing Technologies(RPMT), and casted zoom models by room temperature vulcanization silicone rubber which had biological compatibility. The silicone material models were mechanically tested in order to apply this structure into existing adhesion system of bio-inspired climbing robots.