Scientists from the U.S. Defense department have developed new technology that it hopes will allow soldiers to climb walls while carrying heavy equipment or weapons.
The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is testing a pair of paddles that allows soldiers to climb up a glass building without any support, according to UPI.
"Historically, gaining the high ground has always been an operational advantage for soldiers, but the climbing instruments on which they're frequently forced to rely - tools such as ropes and ladders - have not advanced significantly for millennia. Not only can the use of such tools be overt and labour intensive, they also only allow for sequential climbing whereby the first climber often takes on the highest risk," DARPA said to Sydney Morning Herald.
The technology was developed by the DARPA's Z-Man program. This marks the first time that such technology has been developed by man, though the department was inspired by a gecko.
Gecko's have sticky toes to allow them to climb walls with ease.
"The gecko is one of the champion climbers in the animal kingdom, so it was natural for (the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) to look to it for inspiration in overcoming some of the maneuver challenges that U.S. forces face in urban environments," said Dr. Matt Goodman, Z-Man program manager, according to Gizmodo.com.
Gecko's are able to suspend their entire bodies with one sticky toe. The creature's tiny bristles allow the animal to stick to any surface, no matter what the surface is made of.
Likewise, the paddles have designed to replicate the adhesive nature of gecko's toes, which are powerful enough to hold the creature's entire weight, but at the same time, release easily enough to allow for rapid climbing, according to UPI.com.
Essentially the paddles were created to prevent climbers from falling. The device acts by pushing both the paddles up together and removing it from the surface.
Developers tested the pads in laboratory in Massachusetts, where a man weighing about 218 pounds wearing 50 pounds of gear was able to scale a 25-foot glass wall.
"Like many of the capabilities that the Department of Defence pursues, we saw with vertical climbing that nature had long since evolved the means to efficiently achieve it," Goodman said. "The challenge to our performer team was to understand the biology and physics in play when geckos climb and then reverse-engineer those dynamics into an artificial system for use by humans."
The department is positive that the equipment will eventually be able to replace conventional climbing tools like ladders and ropes. Scientists are hopeful that the equipment will allow multiple troops to climb walls at the same time, whereas ladders or ropes force troops to climb one after the other.Tests are still in progress. The first successful climb was made in 2012.
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