Advanced Bionic Attachment Equipment Inspired by the Attachment Performance of Aquatic Organisms: A Review

In nature, aquatic organisms have evolved various attachment systems, and their attachment ability has become a specific and mysterious survival skill for them. Therefore, it is significant to study and use their unique attachment surfaces and outstanding attachment characteristics for reference and develop new attachment equipment with excellent performance. Based on this, in this review, the unique non-smooth surface morphologies of their suction cups are classified and the key roles of these special surface morphologies in the attachment process are introduced in detail. The recent research on the attachment capacity of aquatic suction cups and other related attachment studies are described. Emphatically, the research progress of advanced bionic attachment equipment and technology in recent years, including attachment robots, flexible grasping manipulators, suction cup accessories, micro-suction cup patches, etc., is summarized. Finally, the existing problems and challenges in the field of biomimetic attachment are analyzed, and the focus and direction of biomimetic attachment research in the future are pointed out

Octopus-inspired adhesive skins for intelligent and rapidly switchable underwater adhesion

The octopus couples controllable adhesives with intricately embedded sensing, processing, and control to manipulate underwater objects. Current synthetic adhesive–based manipulators are typically manually operated without sensing or control and can be slow to activate and release adhesion, which limits system-level manipulation. Here, we couple switchable, octopus-inspired adhesives with embedded sensing, processing, and control for robust underwater manipulation. Adhesion strength is switched over 450× from the ON to OFF state in \u3c50 ms over many cycles with an actively controlled membrane. Systematic design of adhesive geometry enables adherence to nonideal surfaces with low preload and independent control of adhesive strength and adhesive toughness for strong and reliable attachment and easy release. Our bio-inspired nervous system detects objects and autonomously triggers the switchable adhesives. This is implemented into a wearable glove where an array of adhesives and sensors creates a biomimetic adhesive skin to manipulate diverse underwater objects

Applications of Bioinspired Reversible Dry and Wet Adhesives: A Review

<jats:p>Bioinspired adhesives that emulate the unique dry and wet adhesion mechanisms of living systems have been actively explored over the past two decades. Synthetic bioinspired adhesives that have recently been developed exhibit versatile smart adhesion capabilities, including controllable adhesion strength, active adhesion control, no residue remaining on the surface, and robust and reversible adhesion to diverse dry and wet surfaces. Owing to these advantages, bioinspired adhesives have been applied to various engineering domains. This review summarizes recent efforts that have been undertaken in the application of synthetic dry and wet adhesives, mainly focusing on grippers, robots, and wearable sensors. Moreover, future directions and challenges toward the next generation of bioinspired adhesives for advanced industrial applications are described.</jats:p&gt

Limpet II: A Modular, Untethered Soft Robot

The ability to navigate complex unstructured environments and carry out inspection tasks requires robots to be capable of climbing inclined surfaces and to be equipped with a sensor payload. These features are desirable for robots that are used to inspect and monitor offshore energy platforms. Existing climbing robots mostly use rigid actuators, and robots that use soft actuators are not fully untethered yet. Another major problem with current climbing robots is that they are not built in a modular fashion, which makes it harder to adapt the system to new tasks, to repair the system, and to replace and reconfigure modules. This work presents a 450 g and a 250 × 250 × 140 mm modular, untethered hybrid hard/soft robot—Limpet II. The Limpet II uses a hybrid electromagnetic module as its core module to allow adhesion and locomotion capabilities. The adhesion capability is based on negative pressure adhesion utilizing suction cups. The locomotion capability is based on slip-stick locomotion. The Limpet II also has a sensor payload with nine different sensing modalities, which can be used to inspect and monitor offshore structures and the conditions surrounding them. Since the Limpet II is designed as a modular system, the modules can be reconfigured to achieve multiple tasks. To demonstrate its potential for inspection of offshore platforms, we show that the Limpet II is capable of responding to different sensory inputs, repositioning itself within its environment, adhering to structures made of different materials, and climbing inclined surfaces

Anchoring like octopus: Biologically inspired soft artificial sucker

This work was partly supported by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission under grant agreement 287728 in the framework of EU project STIFF-FLOP

Autonomous and reversible adhesion using elastomeric suction cups for in-vivo medical treatments

Remotely controllable and reversible adhesion is highly desirable for surgical operations: it can provide the possibility of non-invasive surgery, flexibility in fixing a patch and surgical manipulation via sticking. In our previous work, we developed a remotely controllable, ingestible, and deployable pill for use as a patch in the human stomach. In this study, we focus on magnetically facilitated reversible adhesion and develop a suction-based adhesive mechanism as a solution for non-invasive and autonomous adhesion of patches. We present the design, model, and fabrication of a magnet-embedded elastomeric suction cup. The suction cup can be localised, navigated, and activated or deactivated in an autonomous way; all realised magnetically with a pre-programmed fashion. The use of the adhesion mechanism is demonstrated for anchoring and carrying, for patching an internal organ surface and for an object removal, respectively

Functional surface microstructures inspired by nature – From adhesion and wetting principles to sustainable new devices

In the course of evolution nature has arrived at startling materials solutions to ensure survival. Investigations into biological surfaces, ranging from plants, insects and geckos to aquatic animals, have inspired the design of intricate surface patterns to create useful functionalities. This paper reviews the fundamental interaction mechanisms of such micropatterns with liquids, solids, and soft matter such as skin for control of wetting, self-cleaning, anti-fouling, adhesion, skin adherence, and sensing. Compared to conventional chemical strategies, the paradigm of micropatterning enables solutions with superior resource efficiency and sustainability. Associated applications range from water management and robotics to future health monitoring devices. We finally provide an overview of the relevant patterning methods as an appendix

Functional surface microstructures inspired by nature : From adhesion and wetting principles to sustainable new devices

In the course of evolution nature has arrived at startling materials solutions to ensure survival. Investigations into biological surfaces, ranging from plants, insects and geckos to aquatic animals, have inspired the design of intricate surface patterns to create useful functionalities. This paper reviews the fundamental interaction mechanisms of such micropatterns with liquids, solids, and soft matter such as skin for control of wetting, self-cleaning, anti-fouling, adhesion, skin adherence, and sensing. Compared to conventional chemical strategies, the paradigm of micropatterning enables solutions with superior resource efficiency and sustainability. Associated applications range from water management and robotics to future health monitoring devices. We finally provide an overview of the relevant patterning methods as an appendix

New designs for bioinspired microstructures with adhesion to rough surfaces

Adhesion to substrates with surface roughness is a research field with many unsolved questions. A more thorough understanding of the underlying principles is important to develop new technologies with potential implications for instance in robotics, industrial automatization and wearable interfaces. Nature is a vast source of inspiration as animals have mastered climbing on various surfaces at high speed with several attachment and detachment events in a short time. In this work, new designs for dry adhesives inspired by natural blueprints are presented. Different strategies were explored to understand and tune adhesion on a range of substrates from smooth glass to polymers with skin-like roughness. Both the material properties and the geometry of the dry adhesives were utilized to improve adhesion strength. Three concepts are presented in this work: (i) composite structures with tunable interface, (ii) soft pressure sensitive adhesive layers, and (iii) funnel-shaped microstructures. This thesis aims for better understanding of the adhesion behavior as a function of several important factors including hold time, substrate material and roughness. The new concepts for bioinspired structures investigated in the present thesis will contribute to the development of performant, reversible adhesives for a variety of applications where surface roughness is involved.Adhäsion an rauen Oberflächen stellt immer noch ein Forschungsfeld mit vielen ungelösten Problemen dar. Um neue Technologien mit Bedeutung für beispielsweise die Robotik, industrielle Automatisierung und körpernahe Sensorik zu entwickeln, bedarf es eines tieferen Verständnisses der zugrunde liegenden Prinzipien. Hier stellt die Natur eine vielfältige Inspirationsquelle dar, da bestimmte Lebewesen in der Lage sind, auf unterschiedlichsten Untergründen zu haften. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit werden der Natur nachempfundene Modelle und Lösungen zur Haftung vorgestellt. Zum Verständnis der Haftungsmechanismen und zur Optimierung der Hafteigenschaften auf einer Bandbreite von Substraten, von glattem Glas bis hin zu rauen, hautähnlichen Polymeroberflächen, wurden unterschiedliche Herangehensweisen untersucht. Zur Erhöhung der Haftkraft kamen sowohl Variationen in den verwendeten Materialien, als auch in der Geometrie der Haftstrukturen zum Einsatz. Drei Konzepte werden in dieser Arbeit vorgestellt: (i) Kompositstrukturen mit variablen Grenzflächen; (ii) weiche, drucksensitive Schichten und (iii) trichterförmige Mikrostrukturen. Es wird ein besseres Verständnis des Adhäsionsverhaltens in direktem Zusammenhang mit verschiedenen Struktur-, Substrat- und Messparametern angestrebt. Die in dieser Arbeit vorgestellten, neuen Konzepte für bioinspirierte Strukturen sollen zur Entwicklung performanter, reversibler Haftverbindungen für einen breiten Anwendungsbereich auf rauen Oberflächen beitragen.L’adhésion sur des surfaces rugueuses offre beaucoup de questions ouvertes aux chercheurs. Pour développer des technologies pionnières dans les domaines comme la robotique, automatisation industrielle et les capteurs portables, une connaissance plus détaillée des mécanismes gouvernant ce phénomène est nécessaire. La nature est une source d’inspiration vaste avec une multitude d’animaux possédant la capacité d’escalader diverses surfaces à grande vitesse. Cette thèse présente de nouveaux designs d’adhésifs secs inspirés par la nature. Différentes stratégies ont été explorées afin de comprendre et modifier l’adhésion sur des surfaces variées comme le verre poli ou des polymères avec une texture de surface ressemblant celle de la peau. Les propriétés des matériaux et la géométrie des structures ont été utilisées comme paramètres pour maximiser l’adhésion. Cette thèse comprend trois parties : (i) des structures composites avec interface variable, (ii) des films mous sensibles à la pression, et (iii) des structures en forme d’entonnoir. Les paramètres étudiés englobent entre outre le temps d’attente, le matériau du substrat et sa rugosité. Tous les concepts peuvent être raffinés et optimisé envers certaines applications. Les nouveaux concepts de structures inspirés par la nature présentés ci-dedans ont pour but de contribuer au développement d’adhésifs performants et réversibles pour une variété d’applications pour lesquelles la rugosité joue un important rôle.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. 340929 awarded to Eduard Arzt and by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) through the grant n. HE 7498/1-1 awarded to René Hensel