The ‘space age’ hasn’t been with humanity for all that long, with the first communications satellite launched in 1956. However, since then the orbit around the Earth is littered with space junk and more recent space missions have looked into effective means to clear away some of the human-made debris.
Doing so can be achieved most effectively using robotics. However, given the variety of shapes and size of orbiting junk this often proves tricky, especially as a robot attempts to grab onto things. So far, no robotic clutch (even when scale is taken into account) works are well as a human hand.
The types of developments attempted to try and improve robotic gripping have included suction cups, magnet,s and sticky surfaces (using special adhesives designed to work in a micro-gravity environment). However, none of these have proved effective. One of the big reasons for this relates to the low and unstable temperatures in space.
However, a new innovation could change this. Scientists from both Stanford University together with engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have produced a new type of gripping system inspired by gecko feet. For some reason, the gecko feet design fares very well in space, and enables robots to cling onto space junk objects. The shape is aided by a a new type of adhesive. This ‘space glue’ only sticks to objects when it is pressed against them.
In trials, conducted on the International Space Station, the grippers can maintain hold of close to 900 pounds and over 80 times the volume of the grippers. The trials showed how the adhesion process allows the grippers to attach to objects and then detach from them in space without adding any unwanted momentum to the object.
The new development is described in the journal Scientific Robotics, under the title “Robotics for space and marine sciences.”
