PiezoClimber: Versatile and Self‐Transitional Climbing Soft Robot with Bioinspired Highly Directional Footpads

Abstract The ability to climb is crucial for terrestrial robots to expand their scope of application with improved navigation capacity. While some soft climbing devices are available, they often lack versatility when it comes to adapting to rough surfaces and changes in terrains. In this regard, a piezo‐based soft robot with bioinspired footpads has been developed that can deliver superior climbing performance. Through their unprecedented directional friction, these footpads enable the robot to complete rigorous climbing tasks on surfaces with a climbing angle of 0–180° and a variety of roughness from ultra‐smooth to millimeter‐scale. With a unique slide‐swing gait, the robot is able to complete fast climbing on a 90° substrate at a speed of 1.4 body lengths per second (BL/s) and self‐transitional climbing on surfaces with a roughness difference of 11 µm and an angle change of 60° in 5 s without active control. A scaled down version of this climber is also presented with increased mobility to traverse steps of 3 body heights and slits of 0.75 BH effectively. In summary, the development of this soft robot with highly directional footpads paves the way for soft robots to navigate varied surfaces and ascend challenging terrains with improved mobility.