It has been found that a team of researchers have recently developed a gripper, which has the gecko-like ability to grip and release surfaces.

Experts said that picking up things and putting them down is a base of any kind of manufacturing. But they said fingers of both humans and robots are not always best for the task at hand.

The gripper developed by the researchers at the University of Pennsylvania has 'tunable adhesion' like that of gecko. This means that despite having no moving parts, its effective stickiness can be tuned from strong to weak.

Lead researcher Kevin Turner said, "The tunability is achieved through a composite construction of simple cylindrical posts made of a hard plastic core surrounded by a softer silicone rubber shell".

At their current millimeter-scale size, the gripper can be used for moving smooth, fragile components, like silicon wafers or glass sheets. They can also be used in climbing robots and other larger-scale applications.

Geckos can stick to steep surfaces due to complex structures on the pads of their feet which use van der Waals adhesion. Van der Waals adhesion occurs when two surfaces are in close contact. The closer the contact, the stronger is the attraction.

Experts said that changing the angle of their feet makes the gecko's adhesion 'tunable' and allows them to detach from the wall to take each step.

Their study was published in Applied Physics Letters.

Helen Minsky, a graduate student, said other researchers have mimicked these structures to achieve tunable adhesion, but they are tough to make. Making larger arrays of these structures is very tough, Minsky added.