Just when you think you have seen everything, along comes a world-first ‘ladybird’ designed to maintain green walls. However, this is no ordinary ladybird! It is a Wallbot.
The Wallbot’s red and black aesthete combined with its dome-shaped shell was inspired by the form of a ladybug (Image: UTS)
Professor Sara Wilkinson, Professor of Sustainable Property at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) was inspired to create the Wallbot after seeing images of the Farmbot in action. “I saw a video of a (ro)bot seeding, weeding, watering and maintaining horizontal beds and thought, “Well if you can go horizontally, you must be able to go vertically!” explains Sara.
Along with UTS colleague, Dr Marc Carmichael, Sara has been working with industry to develop a prototype Wallbot that they hope will one day reduce the complexity of and risk associated with the maintenance of green walls. Project partners include City of Sydney, Junglefy and Transport NSW.
Sara and Marc are planning the second phase of their research and are seeking new project partners to work with, and new green walls on which to conduct trials of the Wallbot.
The Wallbot being tested at the University of Sydney (Image: UTS)
To find out more about the Wallbot or to get involved in the second stage of this research, contact Dr Marc Carmichael: marc.carmichael@uts.edu.au
Watch the Wallbot in action!
Check out the Wallbot in action in this short YouTube clip (2:02 mins). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irZkg9UB5cE
Further reading
You can read IPA’s full article, ‘Wallbots: Climbing on a green wall near you soon’, in the November 2020 issue of Hort Journal Australia. www.hortjournal.com.au
Written by:
Gabrielle Stannus / Inwardout Studio
IPA Board Member