Highly Flexible and Self-Adaptive Dry Adhesive End-Effectors for Precision Robotics

Many research groups have studied biomimetic functional surfaces for practical applications. Dry adhesives inspired by the gecko foot consist of hierarchical and numerous micro/nano hairs and can achieve pull-off strengths for vertical and shear adhesion of up to 20 N cm-2. However, since detachment of nearly dry adhesive is carried out by peeling, the pull-off strength of the dry adhesive in the tilted state is remarkably reduced. In this study, the pull-off strength enhanced dry adhesive in the tilted state was fabricated by using a strategy that reduces the restoring force by bending moment. The experiment according to various column-type dry adhesives was implemented to find the relation between pull-off strength at the tilted state and the bending resistance of dry adhesive. The feasibility of using a dry adhesive in the tilted state was observed through a glass-lifting experiment. This strategy could be widely utilized in many practical applications, such as robotics.