
Tiny robots climb walls carrying more than 100 times their weight - jonbaer
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27413-tiny-robots-climb-walls-carrying-more-than-100-times-their-weight.html#.VT74aqNVhBc
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tim333
The 12g robot moving 2000 times it's weight, if it does, is pretty impressive.
That's 24kg so you'd only need about four, weighing less than an iPhone, to
drag furniture or people around.

Another related video with Geckos and synthetic 'geckskin':

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZJYbcG0Ts0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZJYbcG0Ts0)

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rebootthesystem
Horizontal tests are meaningless without data on the coefficient of friction
between the load and the surface it is on. With sufficiently low friction a
very large mass could be moved with virtually no effort:

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uRql1fjZQf0](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uRql1fjZQf0)

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TheLoneWolfling
Square-cube law. That is all.

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frogpelt
I think you're right, even though you didn't explain what you meant.

Yes, a 12 gram robot can carry 2,400 grams of weight but this does not
necessarily mean you can build a 12 kg robot that will carry 2,400 kg up the
side of a building because it would require drastically more
stickiness/surface area friction.

I think this is what you meant by "Square-cube law."

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profinger
This is what I was thinking when they said "This is the same as you pulling a
blue whale" because I don't think that's accurate. The whale would have a LOT
more surface area causing a lot more friction and taking a lot more force.

Though I could be wrong.

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sakri
I was thinking about a roomba that washes windows on office buildings.

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relet
I was thinking about entering the bank when a tiny roomba with a dead battery
crashed on the pavement in front of me, leaving a crater of rubble and
plastic.

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njharman
Tiny Roomba would probably have such low terminial velocity it may just blow
away or land like a feather.

Tiny Roomba, like the robot in OA, won't require power to stay stuck to
window.

Tiny Roomba, like Roomba's today, will know it's power reserves and be able to
return to charging station before shutdown.

Tiny Roomba will be solar powered.

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nsajko
I wonder how long until the adhesives wear out?

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tigeba
One of the most interesting properties of gecko technology is they are not
like traditional 'sticky' adhesives. They are powered by sub-atomic attraction
and are self cleaning with use. Pretty bizarre :)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_setae](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_setae)

