Geckos use millions of dry bristles on their toes to adhere to and rapidly run up walls and across ceilings. This has inspired the successful development of dry adhesive materials and their application to climbing robots. The tails of geckos also help realize adaptive and robust climbing behavior. Existing climbing robots with gecko-inspired tails have demonstrated improved locomotion performance. However, few studies have focused on the role of a robot's gecko-inspired tail when climbing a sloped surface and its effects on the overall locomotion performance. Thus, this paper reviews and analyzes the roles of the tails of geckos and robots in terms of their climbing performances and compares the advantages and disadvantages of robots' tails made of rigid and soft materials. This review could assist roboticists decide whether a tail is required for their robots and which materials and motion types to use for the tail in order to fulfill their desired functions and even allow the robots to adapt to different environments and tasks.
Keywords: bio-inspired tails; biomimetic design; climbing robots; gecko locomotion; soft material.
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