A beetle-claw inspired miniature mesh climbing robot

Abstract

Beetles can walk smoothly on the meshed surface without slipping or getting stuck in the meshed surface due to its stiffness-variable tarsi and expandable hooks on the tip of tarsi. In this study, we find that beetles bend and open their claws proactively to walk freely. Inspired by the mechanism, we designed a centimeter-scale climbing robot, equipping an artificial claw to open and bend in the same cyclic manner as the natural beetles. The robot can climb freely on the mesh surface of 30° without being stuck at a speed of 26.18 mm/s (0.3 body length per second), and the speed was 37.5 mm/s on the 55-degree rough slop. This is the first demonstration of a centimeter-scale robot that can climb on the mesh surface.