Deformable Anchor Ball for Thrown Referring to Octopus Suckers

Abstract

This paper presents Anchor Ball, a thrown device with a tether for use safely and quickly in search and rescue operations in dangerous situations. To enable the Anchor Ball to stick to various types of walls, the principle of suction inspired by octopus suckers is introduced, which is composed of a multiple-holed surface for indirect suction and an adhesive elastic film for the seal. A shape-adaptive structure with adjustable stiffness is also introduced to help the Anchor Ball stick even on rugged surfaces. After the characterization of the Anchor Ball is described, the effectiveness of the proposed methods is verified by demonstrating inspection inside a building by combining with Fluid Powered Ropeway which enables to carry the exploration apparatus along with the flexible tube, which is shown in videos at the website [a].