The remarkable ability of geckos to climb and run rapidly on walls and ceilings has recently received considerable interest from many researchers.Significant progress has been made in understanding the attachment and ...The remarkable ability of geckos to climb and run rapidly on walls and ceilings has recently received considerable interest from many researchers.Significant progress has been made in understanding the attachment and detachment mechanisms and the fabrication of articulated gecko-inspired adhesives and structured surfaces.This article reviews the direct experiments that have investigated the properties of gecko hierarchical structures,i.e.,the feet,toes,setae,and spatulae,and the corresponding models to ascertain the mechanical principles involved.Included in this review are reports on gecko-inspired surfaces and structures with strong adhesion forces,high ratios of adhesion and friction forces,anisotropic hierarchical structures that give rise to directional adhesion and friction,and“intelligent”attachment and detachment motions.展开更多
Semi-aquatic arthropods skate on water surfaces with synergetic actions of their legs. The sculling forward locomotion of water striders was observed and analyzed in situ to understand and reproduce the abovementioned...Semi-aquatic arthropods skate on water surfaces with synergetic actions of their legs. The sculling forward locomotion of water striders was observed and analyzed in situ to understand and reproduce the abovementioned feature. The bright-edged elliptical shadows of the six legs of a water strider were recorded to derive the supporting force distributions on legs. The propulsion principles of water striders were quantitatively disclosed. A typical sculling forward process was accomplished within approximately 0.15 s. Water striders lifted their heads slightly and supported their weight mainly by the two driving legs to increase the propulsion force and reduce the water resistance during the process. The normalized thrust-area ratio （defined as the ratio of the propulsion force to the projected area） was usually lower than 0.4 after sculling for approximately 0.08 s. The entire normal supporting force remained nearly constant during a stroke to reduce the mass center fluctuation in the normal direction. In addition, water striders could easily control the locomotion direction and speed through the light swinging of the two hind legs as rudders. These sculling principles might inspire sophisticated biomimetic wa- ter-walking robots with high propulsion efficiency in the future.展开更多
基金the Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.51175281 and 51021064)。
文摘The remarkable ability of geckos to climb and run rapidly on walls and ceilings has recently received considerable interest from many researchers.Significant progress has been made in understanding the attachment and detachment mechanisms and the fabrication of articulated gecko-inspired adhesives and structured surfaces.This article reviews the direct experiments that have investigated the properties of gecko hierarchical structures,i.e.,the feet,toes,setae,and spatulae,and the corresponding models to ascertain the mechanical principles involved.Included in this review are reports on gecko-inspired surfaces and structures with strong adhesion forces,high ratios of adhesion and friction forces,anisotropic hierarchical structures that give rise to directional adhesion and friction,and“intelligent”attachment and detachment motions.
基金This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant No. 51425502）.
文摘Semi-aquatic arthropods skate on water surfaces with synergetic actions of their legs. The sculling forward locomotion of water striders was observed and analyzed in situ to understand and reproduce the abovementioned feature. The bright-edged elliptical shadows of the six legs of a water strider were recorded to derive the supporting force distributions on legs. The propulsion principles of water striders were quantitatively disclosed. A typical sculling forward process was accomplished within approximately 0.15 s. Water striders lifted their heads slightly and supported their weight mainly by the two driving legs to increase the propulsion force and reduce the water resistance during the process. The normalized thrust-area ratio （defined as the ratio of the propulsion force to the projected area） was usually lower than 0.4 after sculling for approximately 0.08 s. The entire normal supporting force remained nearly constant during a stroke to reduce the mass center fluctuation in the normal direction. In addition, water striders could easily control the locomotion direction and speed through the light swinging of the two hind legs as rudders. These sculling principles might inspire sophisticated biomimetic wa- ter-walking robots with high propulsion efficiency in the future.
