This Magnetic Robot Quickly Crawls Up Walls Like a Spider
Spider-bot, spider-bot, does whatever a spider can.
Kim, Min Su and Hong, Seungwoo and Park, Hae-Won, Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
As if the robot uprising wasn’t inevitable enough, scientists engineered a spider-like bot that can quickly scurry up walls using magnetic feet.
In a study published Dec. 14 in the journal Science Robotics, researchers at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology designed the untethered robot, dubbed Magnetically Adhesive Robot for Versatile and Expeditious Locomotion (MARVEL), to be able to crawl around magnetic walls and ceilings—and even around a curved storage tank. The authors claim that the robot is quicker and more agile than its climbing counterparts.
Aside from being another weapon in the robot wars, the bot has the potential to greatly assist industrial workplaces without endangering the health and lives of human workers.
Sequential snapshots of MARVEL climbing on a storage tank.
Kim, Min Su and Hong, Seungwoo and Park, Hae-Won, Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
“[MARVEL] demonstrates the fastest vertical and inverted walking speed while its versatile locomotion ability enables the most number of gaits and locomotion tasks,” the authors wrote.
The robot weighs roughly 18 pounds and is about the size of a shoebox. It uses a unique foot design that incorporates electro-magnets and magnetic elastomers (a fancy term for a stretchy, rubber-like material). This allows it to confidently stick to metal surfaces while bandying about using motors and actuators to control its four legs.
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
In experiments, MARVEL clocked in at 0.7 meters (more than two feet) per second while walking on ceilings, and 0.5 meters (more than one and a half feet) per second while climbing vertically up walls. The robot could also navigate around small obstacles and even move over gaps in the surfaces.
The authors said that MARVEL can also lug around equipment. In experiments, it successfully carried a payload of four pounds up walls, and more than seven pounds when inverted on a ceiling. However, they note that the robot will likely be used to investigate certain areas that might be out of reach for humans.
“MARVEL’s potential application is to investigate industrial sites, such as steel-structured buildings, bridges, ships, or storage tanks,” the study says. “These sites inevitably involve tasks at high altitudes or confined spaces, such as the inspection of steel bridges or shipyard welding platforms, which could be dangerous for human workers.”
The researchers hope to build off of their study with the goal of eventually developing a version that’s completely autonomous and includes actuators and motors designed for “dynamic jumping” at ground level.
So jumping, climbing spider-bots might be a reality in the future. Let’s just hope that robot makers don’t do something completely unthinkable like try and attach a big gun to them.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.