Fly on the ceiling: how insect adhesion research can inspire technology

Professor Gorb peers into micro secrets of insects and fits them into modern technology. For example: What can robots learn from flies?

Why does a fly not fall from a wall? Insects possess attachment devices of remarkable quality.

Their secret is based on the structure and material properties of adhesive surfaces. Modern high resolution techniques have aided in both the precise structural analysis of these surfaces down to the nanometer scale and precise characterisation of their micromechanical properties.

Recently obtained results are of strong interest for technological applications. Such research may provide essential information for industrial developments of bio-inspired material surfaces with enhanced adhesive properties, which enable robots to climb a wall, for instance.