From now seems Alex Honnold and Chris Sharma should be more careful. Because the two legends of rock climbing that will have a new rival. Here it is VertiGo, a new robot that can actually climb the walls.
As quoted from PCMag on Wednesday, December 30, 2015, this robot was developed by Disney Research Zurich in collaboration with the ETH University. VertiGo is not ready to participated in the Yosemite Triple Crown in the near future, but it was able to defy gravity with the transition from the ground to the wall.
The robot has four wheels, two propellers tilted to push against the wall, lets move on vertical surfaces. "Even more agile and quick even in rocky terrain," said the company spokesman.
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| Disney’s VertiGo robot can drive on the walls. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1Ro67ZU) |
"There is a choice of two propellers so as to enable the transition from floor pushed to the wall. To push it to the wall using the rear propellers and towards to the top by using the front propellers, so it can be folded up against the wall," said the representative of Disney and ETH University.
The team said, one of the biggest challenges is to maximize the ratio between the output thrust and robot's weight. It has a carbon fiber baseplate to reduce weight, while the wheels and suspension systems made from 3D printed parts and carbon rods. This robot also has two thrusters, that mounted using two Cardan suspension ring like a compass.
"There are integrated servomotors allows the inner and outer rings to be moved independently of each other. All the power needed to push from the floor to the walls and even capable of up to the ceiling," said the spokesman.
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