Don't Look Now: Wall-E is Watching
A slight motion attracts your attention and you glance out your fourth floor window. A pair of mechanical eyes is peeking in at you.
Bad dream? No, it could be reality sooner than you think. Israeli scientist Amir Shapiro has designed a menagerie of wall climbing robots at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheeba, Israel, where he is head of the robotics department. His collection of wall climbers includes snail and cat clones and robots that are just plain sticky.
The robotic snail exudes hot glue as it moves, allowing it to stick to surfaces (and leave a trail as it climbs). Others of Shapiro's creatures are inspired by animals with claws allowing them to climb rough surfaces. Glass and whiteboards are no match for robots with 3M sticky tape on their rollers and other wall-climbers use magnets to enable them to climb steel surfaces.
Perhaps Shapiro's best creation is a robot that emulates the motion of snakes, allowing it to navigate through holes and pipes.
Practical applications for this metallic zoo include military intelligence, munitions removal, or delivery and rescue missions. The snake robot could slither through ruins such as those created by the Haiti earthquake to locate survivors.
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