Disney Just Built This Awesome Wall-Riding Robotic Car

The robot features two tiltable propellers that create thrust to push it into a surface, allowing it to traverse walls and other unlikely terrain. The technology could be used for search and rescue missions following a disaster

Darren Cassey

30 Dec 2015

Unmanned vehicles are becoming evermore useful in carrying out tasks that have historically put humans in danger. Perhaps the most worthy case for such vehicles is in search and rescue missions, where they allow rescue teams to find people without putting further life at risk. While ‘drones’ have increased in popularity, they can be trickier to navigate in tight spots. That’s where this new robotic car called VertiGo from Disney Research and ETH comes in.

It uses two propellers that can be independently tilted to provide thrust. This is useful for giving it forward and backward movement, but also allows it to be pushed onto the surface it is driving along, allowing it to climb walls, and even theoretically drive across ceilings.

The VertiGo is essentially a remote-controlled car, with a carbonfibre baseplate to keep weight down. The wheels are mounted with a double wishbone suspension based on model car oil dampers.