Design and development of innovative adhesive suckers inspired by the tube feet of sea urchins

Abstract

In this paper, we present an adhesion mechanism that can be used for underwater climbing robots and manipulators. The proposed design is inspired from tube feet of sea urchins, which use a combination of suction by extra soft sucker pads with assist of chemical adhesive materials. An experimental analysis of the bioinspired adhesive suckers (in single and array fashion) was performed and the obtained results show a repeatable increase in generated forces by single soft suckers, as compared with commercial sucker clamps. The main advantage of this sucker is its capability of adapting to the rough surfaces and to perform attachment. The other features of the sucker are its simple design, ease of manufacturing, and the capability of miniaturization for miniature robotic applications.