Important Innovations

Adhesive With Stickiness of Gecko Legs Source:  North Carolina State University New Liquid Manufacturing Process This is a new and very novel approach to manufacturing.  A new adhesive has been created by harvesting liquid driven chaos.  It's the invention of scientists at North Caroline State University.  It's said to pave the way for a new generation of soft  nanomaterials including for gels, food, pastes, nonwovens and coatings. Stickiness of Gecko Legs The adhesive created by the process can adhere to virtually any surface.  The team employed liquid manufacturing which involves dissolving a polymer and rapidly mixing it with another liquid.  The chaotic turbulence results in branched particles.  The thinnest particles create a corona of nanofibers that result in adhesive.  The material, according to the team, has the stickiness of Gecko legs. New, Scalable, Inexpensive Manufacturing This new invention is a unique manufacturi...

Harvard's Robot Climber with Sticky Feet Source:  Wyss Institute's Microrobot HAMR-E HAMR-E on Duty for Jet Engine Safety Inspections It's a tiny but mighty micro-robot named HAMR-E (Harvard Ambulatory Micro-Robot Electroadhesion).  It's been developed by researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. They've created a micro-robot with incredible climbing ability.  It has electroadhesive foot pads, origami ankle joints and an optimized gait to explore spaces in 3-D, vertically and upside down. Gecko Inspired Rolls Royce challenged the Wyss Institute to develop an army of micro-robots to inspect their Rolls Royce engines for commercial aircraft.  Commercial jet engines have 25,000 parts, many of which aren't accessible until you pull fully dismantle the engine.  That is very expensive and time-consuming.  Enter HAMR-E from Harvard. Future for this Innovation The potential is that an army of HAMR-E micro-robots ...