Spiderman-style gloves let you climb up walls of GLASS: Attachments mimic the way geckos stick to slippery surfaces
이제 나도 스파이더맨?
[판데르발스 힘Van der Waals forces]
판데르발스 힘(van der Waals force)은 물리화학에서, 공유결합이나 이온의 전기적
상호작용이 아닌 분자간, 혹은 한 분자 내의 부분 간의 인력이나 척력을 말한다. wiki
70kg 몸무게가 나가는 사람이 유리벽을 3.6m 올라가는 테스트 결과
부착력은 매우 강해서 팔 하나에 1m2당 6.8kg ~13.6kg 힘을 지지할 수 있는 것으로 나타났다.
이는 사람이 매달려 올라가기에 충분한 힘이다.
다만 안전문제는 올라가는 사람의 스킬에 달려 있는 것이다.
도마뱀의 발 모양을 닮아서 게코(geckos)라고 한다.
혹시 나쁜 목적으로 사용되지 않을까 벌써부터 걱정이 앞선다.
[에디터 황기철]
Van der Waals forces cause molecules to be attracted to each other Although weak, the effect is multiplied by hairs that cover a gecko's toes This increases the strength of the forces and allows them to stick to glass Scientists created 'microwedges' tiles to generate Van der Waals forces These microwedges were fitted to the hands and feet of a researcher The 11-stone (70kg) volunteer then climbed a 12ft (3.6 metre) pane of glass
By Victoria Woollaston for MailOnline
A climbing system inspired by geckos has turned spiderman fiction into fact by making it possible for a human to scale vertical glass.
During tests, an 11-stone (70kg) volunteer crawled up a 12ft (3.6 metre) pane using just sticky attachments on his hands and feet.
The demonstration was reminiscent of the way Spiderman scales skyscrapers in the Marvel comics and films, as well as the way Tom Cruise clings to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai during Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
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A climbing system inspired by geckos has turned Spiderman fiction into fact by making it possible for a human to scale vertical glass. During tests, an 11-stone (70kg) volunteer crawled up a 12ft (3.6 metre) pane using just sticky attachments on his hands and feet (pictured)
But, unlike the sucker-gloves employed by Mr Cruise, or the science fiction of Marvel comic books, the latest gecko devices are real and technologically sophisticated
They employ the same natural molecular forces that allow gecko lizards to scurry around on ceilings
Geckos climb on a wide variety of surfaces, including smooth surfaces such as glass.
They have adhesive pressures of 15 to 30 pounds (6.8kg to 13.6kg) per square inch for each limb, enabling the creature to hang its entire body by one toe.
A gecko's toe consists of a microscopic hierarchical structure of stalk-like setae - 100 microns in length, 2 microns in radius.
From individual setae, a bundle of hundreds of terminal tips called spatulae - approximately 200 nanometers in diameter at their widest - branch out and contact the climbing surface.
These hairs create an electrostatic force known as Van der Waals.
It causes neighbouring molecules to be attracted to each other.
Although very weak, the effect is multiplied by thousands of tiny hairs that cover a gecko's toes, allowing them to stick firmly to surfaces.
Adopting the same principle, scientists created tiny tiles called 'microwedges' to generate Van der Waals forces and produce a dry adhesive even more efficient than the gecko's.
During the experiment, the volunteer testing these microwedge attachments simply peeled them on and off the glass.
Geckos climb on a wide variety of surfaces, including smooth surfaces such as glass. A gecko's toe (pictured) consists of a microscopic stalk-like setae, 100 microns in length, 2 microns in radius. These hairs create an electrostatic force called Van der Waals that causes molecules to be attracted to each other
The US team led by Dr Elliot Hawkes, from Stanford University, wrote in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface: 'Using this system, a human of mass 70 kilograms (11 stone) successfully ascended a 3.6-metre (11 ft) vertical glass wall with 140 square centimetres of gecko-inspired dry adhesives in each hand.
'We tested hundreds of individual steps on glass with the 70kg (11 stone) climber and 140 square centimetres of adhesive without failure.
'The synthetic adhesion system creates a nearly uniform load distribution across the whole adhesive area, improving upon the adhesive-bearing structures of a gecko's toe and enabling a human to climb vertical glass using an area of adhesive no larger than the area of a human hand.'
Adopting the same principle, scientists created tiny tiles called 'microwedges' to generate Van der Waals forces and produce a dry adhesive even more efficient than the gecko's. During the experiment, the volunteer testing these microwedge attachments simply peeled them on and off the glass (design graphic pictured)
The demonstration was reminiscent of the way Spiderman scales skyscrapers in the Marvel comics and films, (illustrated left) as well as the way Tom Cruise clings to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai during Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (pictured right)
The research was conducted in collaboration with the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), whose 'Z-man' programme is investigating biologically-inspired climbing aids for soldiers.
One application of the technology might be to help astronauts get around in weightless conditions, the authors suggest.
'Recent work has shown that microwedges function in the environment of outer space, so it would be of interest to test this adhesion system in such an environment,' they concluded. dailymail
