Innovation is taking a center stage everyday. Today our focus is moved onto VertiGo. VertiGo is a wall-climbing robot that is capable of transitioning from the ground to the wall, created in collaboration between Disney Research and ETH Zurich. The robot has two tiltable propellers that provide thrust onto the wall, and four wheels. One pair of wheels is steerable, and each propeller has two degrees of freedom for adjusting the direction of thrust.
The robot utilizes two tiltable propellers that generate thrust angled both upwards and downwards, enabling it to adhere to walls and move in a controlled manner. By adjusting the propellers’ angles, the robot can maintain stability and navigate various surfaces.
The VertiGo robot combines the capabilities of a car and a helicopter, as it can drive on the ground like a traditional wheeled vehicle and then transition to climbing walls using its propellers. This unique design allows it to traverse both horizontal and vertical surfaces, making it versatile for different environments.
The development of the VertiGo robot opens up possibilities for applications in areas such as surveillance, inspection, and exploration. Its ability to climb walls and move between different terrains could be valuable in scenarios where traditional ground-based robots face limitations.
By transitioning from the ground to a wall and back again, VertiGo extends the ability of robots to travel through urban and indoor environments. The robot is able to move on a wall quickly and with agility. The use of propellers to provide thrust onto the wall ensures that the robot is able to traverse over indentations such as masonry.
The choice of two propellers rather than one enables a floor-to-wall transition – thrust is applied both towards the wall using the rear propeller and in an upward direction using the front propeller, resulting in a flip onto the wall.
The wall climbing robot represents an exciting advancement in robotics, showcasing the potential for combining different modes of locomotion to overcome obstacles and explore new possibilities in the field.