Abstract
Many organisms have attachment organs with excellent functions, such as adhesion, clinging, and grasping, as a result of biological evolution to adapt to complex living environments. From nanoscale to macroscale, each type of adhesive organ has its own underlying mechanisms. Many biological adhesive mechanisms have been studied and can be incorporated into robot designs. This paper presents a systematic review of reversible biological adhesive methods and the bioinspired attachment devices that can be used in robotics. The study discussed how biological adhesive methods, such as dry adhesion, wet adhesion, mechanical adhesion, and sub-ambient pressure adhesion, progress in research. The morphology of typical adhesive organs, as well as the corresponding attachment models, is highlighted. The current state of bioinspired attachment device design and fabrication is discussed. Then, the design principles of attachment devices are summarized in this article. The following section provides a systematic overview of climbing robots with bioinspired attachment devices. Finally, the current challenges and opportunities in bioinspired attachment research in robotics are discussed.
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Abbreviations
- AR:
-
Aspect ratio
- AUV:
-
Autonomous underwater vehicle
- BL:
-
Body length per second moved
- CPG:
-
Central pattern generator
- DC:
-
Direct current
- DEA:
-
Dielectric elastomer actuator
- DOF:
-
Degree of freedom
- IMU:
-
Inertial measurement unit
- IR:
-
Infrared ray
- JPL:
-
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- MSAMS:
-
Mushroom-shaped adhesive microstructure
- PDMS:
-
Polydimethylsiloxane
- PMMA:
-
Polymethyl methacrylate
- PS:
-
Polystyrene
- PU:
-
Polyurethane
- PUA:
-
Polyurethane acrylate
- PVS:
-
Polyvinyl siloxane
- QDD:
-
Quasi-direct drive
- RCM:
-
Remote center-of-motion
- SDM:
-
Shape deposition manufacturing
- SEA:
-
Serial elastic actuator
- SMA:
-
Shape memory alloy
- VMC:
-
Virtual model control
- WBC:
-
Whole-body control
- A :
-
Hamaker constant
- d :
-
Normalized separation in the multiple wet adhesion model
- D :
-
Separation distance between the two surfaces
- f :
-
Normalized total force in the multiple wet adhesion model
- F :
-
Shear force along the attached substrate in Fig. 13(a)
- F a :
-
Force per area between two planar surfaces in van der Waals force model
- F cap :
-
Capillarity force
- F hyd :
-
Hydrodynamic force
- F n :
-
Multiple wet adhesion
- h :
-
Height of the liquid film
- h asp :
-
Depth of the center of the asperity as shown in Fig. 13(a)
- n :
-
Number of small drops
- r s :
-
Radius of the microspine
- r tip :
-
Radius of the claw tip
- R :
-
Radius of the contact unit in wet adhesion model
- R asp :
-
Radius of the asperity in Fig. 13(a)
- s :
-
Scale factor in the multiple wet adhesion model
- t :
-
Separating time of the two surfaces in wet adhesion model
- V :
-
Volume of one large liquid droplet
- W :
-
Weight acting on the claw directed normal of the attached surface
- α :
-
Angle as shown in Fig. 13(a)
- θ 1, θ 2 :
-
Contact angles of the liquid film with contact unit and the surface respectively in Fig. 8
- θ load :
-
Angle between the surface and the direction of external force
- θ min :
-
Critical attachment angle between the attached surface and the claw
- γ :
-
Surface tension
- η :
-
Liquid viscosity
- μ :
-
Friction coefficient between claw end and attached surface
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Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFB1309600), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51775011 and 91748201).
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Xu, K., Zi, P. & Ding, X. Learning from biological attachment devices: applications of bioinspired reversible adhesive methods in robotics. Front. Mech. Eng. 17, 43 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-022-0699-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-022-0699-x