https://techxplore.com/ en-us Tech Xplore internet news portal provides the latest news on electronics, technology, and engineering. Soft robotics, which uses flexible and deformable materials, is an emerging field in autonomous systems. It has recently been applied to next-generation tasks such as deep-sea sampling with soft robotic grippers—requiring strong adhesion and autonomous detachment. Bioinspired adhesion offers a promising solution. https://techxplore.com/news/2025-08-starfish-tube-feet-underwater-robots.html Robotics Wed, 27 Aug 2025 12:50:02 EDT news675517798 When it comes to innovative technologies, inventors often find inspiration in the most unexpected places. A former salesman, Akeem Shannon, was inspired by his uncle, who worked as an engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to research the agency's published technologies. He came across a sticky NASA invention that would help him launch his breakout product. https://techxplore.com/news/2024-08-flipping-nasa-tech-gecko-accessory.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 07 Aug 2024 10:34:10 EDT news642245646 A research article by scientists at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics developed a neural control algorithm to coordinate the adhesive toes and limbs of a climbing robot. The new research article, published in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems, provided a novel hybrid-driven climbing robot and introduced a neural control method based on CPG (Central Pattern Generator) for coordinating between adhesion and motion. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-04-neural-strategy-detachment-climbing-robot.html Robotics Tue, 18 Apr 2023 11:03:03 EDT news601034581 Geckos' impressive climbing abilities give them agility rarely surpassed in nature. With their highly specialized adhesive lamellae on their feet, geckos can climb up smooth vertical surfaces with ease and even move on a ceiling hanging upside down. Their ability to run on water is another superpower. Now one more can be added. https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-soft-perching-robot-validates-benefit.html Robotics Thu, 02 Sep 2021 11:00:08 EDT news549789672 Anyone who's seen a gecko will likely know they can climb walls. But these common lizards can also run across water nearly as fast as they can move on solid ground. Yet while we know how geckos scale smooth vertical surfaces using countless tiny hairs on their feet called setae, how they manage to avoid sinking into the water has been something of a mystery – until now. My colleagues and I recently completed research that explains how geckos use a combination of techniques to perform this amazing feat. https://techxplore.com/news/2018-12-geckos.html Engineering Fri, 07 Dec 2018 08:03:20 EST news463392193 A team of California researchers has developed a robotic gripper that combines the adhesive properties of gecko toes and the adaptability of air-powered soft robots to grasp a much wider variety of objects than the state of the art. https://techxplore.com/news/2018-04-gecko-inspired-adhesives-soft-robotic-fingers.html Robotics Mon, 09 Apr 2018 12:54:23 EDT news442497208 Geckos climb vertically up trees, walls and even windows, thanks to pads on the digits of their feet that employ a huge number of tiny bristles and hooks. https://techxplore.com/news/2017-07-geckos-aerial-limits.html Engineering Wed, 19 Jul 2017 06:11:02 EDT news419663380 A team of researchers working at Stanford University has used prior research involving the means by which gecko's climb walls to create pads that allow a human to do very nearly the same thing. In their paper published in Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the team describes how they improved on the ideas used by gecko's to allow for the creation of pads capable of carrying the weight of a human while climbing a glass wall. https://techxplore.com/news/2014-11-gecko-pads-climb-glass-wall.html Hi Tech & Innovation Wed, 19 Nov 2014 09:40:01 EST news335611475