{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]],"date-time":"2026-04-16T16:58:10Z","timestamp":1776358690192,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,28]],"date-time":"2022-07-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1658966400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Jiangsu special project for frontier leading base technology","award":["BK20192004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BK20192004"]}]},{"name":"Jiangsu special project for frontier leading base technology","award":["CE20225037"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CE20225037"]}]},{"name":"Jiangsu special project for frontier leading base technology","award":["SYG202143"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SYG202143"]}]},{"name":"Jiangsu special project for frontier leading base technology","award":["B220201025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["B220201025"]}]},{"name":"Jiangsu special project for frontier leading base technology","award":["CJ20210040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CJ20210040"]}]},{"name":"Jiangsu special project for frontier leading base technology","award":["21KJB460006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21KJB460006"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou City Social Development Science and Technology Support Plan Project","award":["BK20192004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BK20192004"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou City Social Development Science and Technology Support Plan Project","award":["CE20225037"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CE20225037"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou City Social Development Science and Technology Support Plan Project","award":["SYG202143"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SYG202143"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou City Social Development Science and Technology Support Plan Project","award":["B220201025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["B220201025"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou City Social Development Science and Technology Support Plan Project","award":["CJ20210040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CJ20210040"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou City Social Development Science and Technology Support Plan Project","award":["21KJB460006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21KJB460006"]}]},{"name":"Suzhou Key Industrial Technology Innovation Forward-looking Application Research Project","award":["BK20192004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BK20192004"]}]},{"name":"Suzhou Key Industrial Technology Innovation Forward-looking Application Research Project","award":["CE20225037"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CE20225037"]}]},{"name":"Suzhou Key Industrial Technology Innovation Forward-looking Application Research Project","award":["SYG202143"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SYG202143"]}]},{"name":"Suzhou Key Industrial Technology Innovation Forward-looking Application Research Project","award":["B220201025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["B220201025"]}]},{"name":"Suzhou Key Industrial Technology Innovation Forward-looking Application Research Project","award":["CJ20210040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CJ20210040"]}]},{"name":"Suzhou Key Industrial Technology Innovation Forward-looking Application Research Project","award":["21KJB460006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21KJB460006"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities","award":["BK20192004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BK20192004"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities","award":["CE20225037"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CE20225037"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities","award":["SYG202143"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SYG202143"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities","award":["B220201025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["B220201025"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities","award":["CJ20210040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CJ20210040"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities","award":["21KJB460006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21KJB460006"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou key research and development projects","award":["BK20192004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BK20192004"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou key research and development projects","award":["CE20225037"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CE20225037"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou key research and development projects","award":["SYG202143"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SYG202143"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou key research and development projects","award":["B220201025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["B220201025"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou key research and development projects","award":["CJ20210040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CJ20210040"]}]},{"name":"Changzhou key research and development projects","award":["21KJB460006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21KJB460006"]}]},{"name":"General project of Natural Science Foundation of colleges and universities of Jiangsu Province","award":["BK20192004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BK20192004"]}]},{"name":"General project of Natural Science Foundation of colleges and universities of Jiangsu Province","award":["CE20225037"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CE20225037"]}]},{"name":"General project of Natural Science Foundation of colleges and universities of Jiangsu Province","award":["SYG202143"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SYG202143"]}]},{"name":"General project of Natural Science Foundation of colleges and universities of Jiangsu Province","award":["B220201025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["B220201025"]}]},{"name":"General project of Natural Science Foundation of colleges and universities of Jiangsu Province","award":["CJ20210040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CJ20210040"]}]},{"name":"General project of Natural Science Foundation of colleges and universities of Jiangsu Province","award":["21KJB460006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21KJB460006"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Since climbing robots mainly rely on adhesion actuators to achieve adhesion, robust adhesion actuators have always been the challenge of climbing robot design. A novel under-actuated soft adhesion actuator (USAA) proposed in this paper for climbing robots can generate adhesion through robot\u2019s load applied to the actuator. The actuator is composed of a soft film\/substrate structure with an annular groove on the substrate and a cavity on the soft film. To fabricate the actuator, we first study the influence of the geometric parameters of the USAA on the maximum adhesion of the actuator by analysis and experiments, and then combine these parameters and the boundary conditions of the static meniscus in the mold to design the mold. Moreover, we fabricate a climbing robot equipped with USAAs and evaluate its performance on horizontal and inclined surfaces with a wide range of characteristics. The USAA can generate strong and controllable adhesion to various smooth and semi-smooth surfaces. Furthermore, the fabricated robot performs well on various surfaces under a certain load (at least 500 g) and speed (369 mm\/min) through experiments. It\u2019s adaptability to a variety of surfaces enables a wide range of applications and pushes the boundaries of soft adhesion actuators.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s22155639","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,28]],"date-time":"2022-07-28T22:43:26Z","timestamp":1659048206000},"page":"5639","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Design of Under-Actuated Soft Adhesion Actuators for Climbing Robots"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8436-4925","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhipeng","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China"},{"name":"University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6951-5633","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Linsen","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China"},{"name":"Suzhou Research Institute, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3407-2905","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xingcan","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jinfu","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Changzhou Vocationnal Institute of Industry Technology, Changzhou 213018, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1288","DOI":"10.1016\/j.robot.2013.09.002","article-title":"Climbing robots for maintenance and inspections of vertical structures\u2014A survey of design aspects and technologies","volume":"61","author":"Schmidt","year":"2013","journal-title":"Robot. Auton. Syst."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"283","DOI":"10.1080\/01691864.2018.1447238","article-title":"Development of universal vacuum gripper for wall-climbing robot","volume":"32","author":"Fujita","year":"2018","journal-title":"Adv. Robot."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"20150085","article-title":"Mechanical analyses on the digital behaviour of the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) based on a multi-level directional adhesion model","volume":"471","author":"Wu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Proc. R. Soc. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19320","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0608841103","article-title":"Adhesion and friction in gecko toe attachment and detachment","volume":"103","author":"Tian","year":"2006","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"523","DOI":"10.1007\/s42235-020-0042-3","article-title":"Design, modeling and experimentation of a biomimetic wall-climbing robot for multiple surfaces","volume":"17","author":"Liu","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Bionic Eng."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"592","DOI":"10.1089\/soro.2017.0133","article-title":"Switchable adhesion actuator for amphibious climbing soft robot","volume":"5","author":"Tang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Soft Robot."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"639","DOI":"10.1089\/soro.2019.0082","article-title":"Octopus arm-inspired tapered soft actuators with suckers for improved grasping","volume":"7","author":"Xie","year":"2020","journal-title":"Soft Robot."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"356","DOI":"10.1089\/soro.2018.0059","article-title":"A soft end effector inspired by cephalopod suckers and augmented by a dielectric elastomer actuator","volume":"6","author":"Sholl","year":"2019","journal-title":"Soft Robot."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"066016","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-3190\/ab47d1","article-title":"Reversible adhesion to rough surfaces both in and out of water, inspired by the clingfish suction disc","volume":"14","author":"Sandoval","year":"2019","journal-title":"Bioinspir. Biomim."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Muthugala, M.V.J., Vega-Heredia, M., Vengadesh, A., Sriharsha, G., and Elara, M.R. (2019, January 3\u20138). Design of an adhesion-aware fa\u00e7ade cleaning robot. Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE\/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Macau, China.","DOI":"10.1109\/IROS40897.2019.8967978"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Muthugala, M.V.J., Vega-Heredia, M., Mohan, R.E., and Vishaal, S.R. (2020). Design and control of a wall cleaning robot with adhesion-awareness. Symmetry, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/sym12010122"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Schmidt, D., and Berns, K. (2013, January 3\u20137). Safe navigation of a wall-climbing robot by methods of risk prediction and suitable counteractive measures. Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE\/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Tokyo, Japan.","DOI":"10.1109\/IROS.2013.6696679"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"eaau3038","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.aau3038","article-title":"Inverted and vertical climbing of a quadrupedal microrobot using electroadhesion","volume":"3","author":"Goldberg","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. Robot."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"eaat2874","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.aat2874","article-title":"Soft wall-climbing robots","volume":"3","author":"Gu","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. Robot."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Geissmann, L., Denuder, M., Keusch, D., Pfirter, L., R\u00f6thlisberger, D., Ritter, M., Thoma, P., Siegwart, R.Y., Fischer, W., and Caprari, G. (2011). Paraswift\u2014A Hybrid Climbing and Base Jumping Robot for Entertainment. Field Robot., 397\u2013406.","DOI":"10.1142\/9789814374286_0046"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103439","DOI":"10.1016\/j.robot.2020.103439","article-title":"Magnetic crawler climbing detection robot basing on metal magnetic memory testing technology","volume":"125","author":"Gao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Robot. Auton. Syst."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1016\/S1672-6529(14)60096-2","article-title":"A wheeled wall-climbing robot with bio-inspired spine mechanisms","volume":"12","author":"Liu","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Bionic Eng."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"eabe1858","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.abe1858","article-title":"Electrically programmable adhesive hydrogels for climbing robots","volume":"6","author":"Huang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci. Robot."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Andrikopoulos, G., Papadimitriou, A., Brusell, A., and Nikolakopoulos, G. (2019, January 3\u20138). On Model-based adhesion control of a vortex climbing robot. Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE\/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Macau, China.","DOI":"10.1109\/IROS40897.2019.8968069"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"eaah3690","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.aah3690","article-title":"Soft robotics: Technologies and systems pushing the boundaries of robot abilities","volume":"1","author":"Laschi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. Robot."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7457","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.201601407","article-title":"Octopus-inspired smart adhesive pads for transfer printing of semiconducting nanomembranes","volume":"28","author":"Lee","year":"2016","journal-title":"Adv. Mater."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2009217","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.202009217","article-title":"Elastic Energy Storage Enabled Magnetically Actuated, Octopus-Inspired Smart Adhesive","volume":"31","author":"Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Sandoval, J.A. (2018). Getting a Grip Underwater: The Suction Disc of the Northern Clingfish Inspires a Reversible Underwater Adhesion Mechanism, University of California."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Miyake, T., Ishihara, H., and Yoshimura, M. (November, January 29). Basic studies on wet adhesion system for wall climbing robots. Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE\/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/IROS.2007.4399417"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1600055","DOI":"10.1002\/admt.201600055","article-title":"Buckling Pneumatic Linear Actuators Inspired by Muscle","volume":"1","author":"Yang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Adv. Mater. Technol."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6323","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.201503188","article-title":"Buckling of Elastomeric Beams Enables Actuation of Soft Machines","volume":"27","author":"Yang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Adv. Mater."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ge, D., Ren, C., Matsuno, T., and Ma, S. (2016, January 9\u201314). Guide rail design for a passive suction cup based wall-climbing robot. Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE\/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Daejeon, Korea.","DOI":"10.1109\/IROS.2016.7759850"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"413","DOI":"10.1038\/nmat4544","article-title":"Biomimetic 4D printing","volume":"15","author":"Gladman","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"467","DOI":"10.1038\/nature14543","article-title":"Design, fabrication and control of soft robots","volume":"521","author":"Rus","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2163","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201303288","article-title":"Pneumatic networks for soft robotics that actuate rapidly","volume":"24","author":"Mosadegh","year":"2014","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2483","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmps.2005.06.003","article-title":"Extension of Stoney\u2019s formula to non-uniform temperature distributions in thin film\/substrate systems. The case of radial symmetry","volume":"53","author":"Huang","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Mech. Phys. Solids"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gent, A.N. (2012). Engineering with Rubber: How to Design Rubber Components, Carl Hanser.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-446-42871-3"},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"G\u00f6bel, E., and Brichta, A.M. (1974). Rubber Springs Design, Spring."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"201","DOI":"10.1016\/0021-9991(81)90145-5","article-title":"Volume of fluid (VOF) method for the dynamics of free boundaries","volume":"39","author":"Hirt","year":"1981","journal-title":"J. Comput. Phys."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"481","DOI":"10.1017\/S002211206800203X","article-title":"Static menisci in a vertical right circular cylinder","volume":"34","author":"Concus","year":"1968","journal-title":"J. Fluid Mech."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zisman, W.A. (1964). Relation of the Equilibrium Contact Angle to Liquid and Solid Constitution, ACS Publications.","DOI":"10.1021\/ba-1964-0043.ch001"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"371","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.fl.11.010179.002103","article-title":"On the spreading of liquids on solid surfaces: Static and dynamic contact lines","volume":"11","author":"Dussan","year":"1979","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"335","DOI":"10.1016\/0021-9991(92)90240-Y","article-title":"A continuum method for modeling surface tension","volume":"100","author":"Brackbill","year":"1992","journal-title":"J. Comput. Phys."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Modjarrad, K., and Ebnesajjad, S. (2013). Handbook of Polymer Applications in Medicine and Medical Devices, Elsevier."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/22\/15\/5639\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T23:58:04Z","timestamp":1760140684000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/22\/15\/5639"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,28]]},"references-count":39,"journal-issue":{"issue":"15","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,8]]}},"alternative-id":["s22155639"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s22155639","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,28]]}}}