“The humble gecko: the tiny, 5-ounce lizard can scale a wall carrying 9 pounds of weight -- a whopping 18 times its body weight” (Barrie). What if humans were able to climb walls with the same ease as lizards? Just think of the possibilities. What would be the purpose of one needing to climb walls? Society in general may not need to climb buildings on a whim, but the military would find many beneficial aspects of this invention. Gecko Gloves are the future of military and technological advancements. People will be able to scale buildings like a modern day Spider Man.
A Student at Stanford University, named Elliot Hawkes, had the idea and created a prototype of Gecko Gloves, that will allow humans to climb vertical glass walls. Elliot Hawkes…show more content… “The handheld pads are also connected to degressive springs that become less stiff when the pad is stretched” (Passary). The way the adhesive is able to stick on to the glass wall is due to forces known as van der Waals. Van der Waals was named after a Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, which is the attraction or repulsive forces between molecules. This force is strong in that the attraction of the molecules works together to create friction between the adhesive on the handheld pad and the glass wall. “Hawkes and his colleagues developed a reptile-inspired dry-adhesive material called PDMS microwedges. Hair-like nanofibers cling and react to a surface, flattening out when pulled downward and gripping by electromagnetic attraction” (Phillips). PDMS or polydimethylsiloxane is the most widely used silicon-based organic…show more content… Instead the stick is achieved by millions of tiny hairs on the soles of the gecko’s feet. These hairs keep its toes in contact with the surface, creating molecular forces of attraction” (Barrie). As more force is put on the gloves or pressure the stronger the grip to the surface, it is touching this is due to the forces of van der Waals and has to do with molecular attraction. Also, the larger the glove the more weight it can be able to support. Although these gloves can support a large amount of weight, the amount of effort it takes to release is quite minimal and easy due to the fact that the glove is compressing and less adhesive is holding it to the surface which then makes it easy to take off. The prototype came out recently and had been able to support up to 250 lbs. Currently they are still researching this and have received some help from DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, which is funding their
