geCKo Materials, the 2024 runner-up of the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield, returned to the stage at this year’s show to further commercialize its technology and unveil new products.
Founder Dr. Capella Kerst has revealed four new applications for geCKo’s ultra-strong dry adhesive. They are semiconductor wafer processing tools, robotic grippers for smooth surfaces (such as solar panels and glass), curved robotic “end effectors” for more irregular shapes, and multipurpose grippers for robotic arms.
geCKo technology is inspired by the way real-life lizards use their feet to grip surfaces. Kerst positions it as a new form of Velcro, but one that leaves no residue, is quick to put on and take off, and doesn’t require charging or suction. A 1-inch tile of this material can withstand a weight of 16 pounds, and geCKo’s dry adhesive can be applied 120,000 times and stay in place for seconds, minutes, or years.
The ability to quickly adapt dry adhesives to existing manufacturing, picking, and other robotic applications has proven popular. Even before Karst’s company competed on the Battlefield stage last year, it had customers including Ford, NASA, and Pacific Gas & Electric.
“Has this year gone by as quickly for everyone else as it has for us?” Kerst said on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt on Wednesday. The geCKo CEO said her company has tripled the size of its team since last year’s show and closed on $8 million in funding. And geCKo’s dry adhesive was used on six space missions last year. This, according to Kirst, is evidence of the material’s ability to function in multiple environments, including vacuums.
On stage Wednesday, Kirst showed off Fanuc’s robotic arm, which uses six geCKo tiles to quickly grab and move objects, before showing videos of other commercialized applications.
In one of those videos, Kerst demonstrated how geCKo’s material can be used to safely move semiconductor wafers faster than current suction or vacuum technologies.
“Customers from TSMC, Samsung, Intel, and Kawasaki say we have the following goals: [move the wafers] “We decided to use the geCKo material to blow them out of the water and ensure repeated 5.4G accelerations,” she said.
Source link
