Wall Walking like Shahrukh Khan in Badshah

Ever wanted to walk or climb on a wall like SRK does in Badshah? Well that is very much possible now. A Stanford Engineer can now climb walls using gecko (a type of lizard) inspired climbing device.

Geckos run up walls and scurry across ceilings with the help of tiny rows of hairs on their feet. The hairs, known as setae, generate a multitude of weak attractions between molecules on the two surfaces that add up to a secure foothold. Moreover, making and breaking the bonds that hold individual setae to a surface is easy. So, unlike glue or tape, a gecko’s sticky feet attach and detach effortlessly, a trait envied by mechanical engineers.

Scientists have recreated gecko like adhesion using silicones, plastics, carbon nanotubes, and other materials. The team imitated gecko hair by making use of silicon microwedges. They assembled these into 24 stamp-sized tiles, each of which contained hundreds of thousands of microwedges. The team then connected the tiles to springs with tendonlike strings and attached them on an octagonal-shaped plate. Unlike gecko skin, the springs apply the same force to the tiles after they are stretched beyond a certain threshold, thus distributing loads evenly among the tiles. This allowed the assembled patch to offer similar adhesive strength for sizes from a square millimeter to a human hand.

Being in its beta stage the device can work only on clean and smooth surfaces and can carry only a limited weight. Waiting to get our hands on to it.