DailyDirt: Wall-Climbing Robots (aka Toys)

Too Much Free Time

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Toys have really become much more advanced than the yo-yos and etch-a-sketches of the past. Sure, kids will always like to play with the big cardboard boxes instead of the toys that came in them, but older kids have amazing remote-controlled drones and paper planes (that they might need to register with the FAA someday). If you’ve been looking for some cool RC cars that can climb walls and drive on the ceiling, there are a bunch of toys to choose from.

• Disney Research has a wall-climbing robot car called the VertiGo. This looks like a cool prototype for a toy — and maybe someday there will be a Star Wars droid that rolls on ceilings and walls a bit better than BB-8 can. [url]
• If a small robot car can drive around on the ceiling and walls, it’s usually done with vacuum suction or propellers to get the tiny vehicle to defy gravity. Researchers have a solution that doesn’t sound like a tiny vacuum cleaner or helicopter — using gecko-like materials that are electrically activated. Electroadhesion probably won’t be available on kids’ toys in the near future, but it would be a much better toy for kids to play with quietly. [url]
• Takara Tomy already makes a remote-controlled car with tiny helicopter propellers that can fly… and maneuver on water. Okay, it probably doesn’t do too well on ceilings or walls, but it looks cooler than some other wall/ceiling-driving RC toy cars. [url]

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Filed Under: bb-8, drones, gecko, materials, prototype, rc cars, robots, toys, vertigo
Companies: disney research, takara tomy