Wall climbing robots scale vertical surfaces by virtue of electro adhesion, which involves inducing electrostatic charges on a wall substrate using a power supply connected to compliant pads situated on the moving robot.
Under DARPA funding it has demonstrated robust clamping to common building materials including glass, wood, metal, and concrete, with clamping pressures in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 N per square cm of clamp (0.8 to 23 pounds per square inch).
Application of wall climbing robots address an electric array of business, military, civilian, and consumer needs. For example, first responders could be provided with real-time and longer term reconnaissance of buildings. They have military or commercial applications in the inspections of bridges, containers, pipes and storage tanks, buildings, structural walls, ducts, aircraft, and transmission towers.
Wall climbing robots could also be operated for cleaning windows and for painting buildings, bridges, or aircraft. In the future the technology’s use for several human wall-climbing functions ranging from Special Forces operations to exterior building maintenance.
LEGO’s Mind storms division is optimizing the programming environment for its robotic invention system: a LEGO kit for the creation of robots that the features various sensors, and infrared port, and an 8-bit microcontroller. LEGO Mind storms are dedicated to developing and deploying new technologies that empower children to learn.
The microcontroller featured in the LEGO Mind storms system had roughly the same computing power as the Apple II when it was introduced in 1977, while occupying a fraction of the total volume.
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