I have been advocating against legs on robots for years and today Disney Research released a working prototype of a wheeled robot that climbs walls the same day as the Marines scrapped the idea of using the Boston Dynamics LS3 Robotic Mule to carry equipment. Some vindication to end the year :)

This thing is AWESOME! love how it propels and brakes itself with a propeller. Seems like it's acceleration and braking is amazing

The reason the wheels have a light lacework must be to not impede air circulation. Now if this Vertigo thing could take off and fly as well, it would be giant.

Very interesting device these guys have created. Especially ingenious is the 2 axis gimballed prop motors that tilt the props left to right to resist the tendency of the craft to fall from the wall when traversing the wall in a horizontal plane. In the video, you can see the craft start to slip as it is traversing the wall horizontally. The rubber belt they have added to the wheels serves to prevent slippage. I trust that they used slip rings to prevent wire breakage.

Wonder if it integrates remaining battery charge with height above ground level so that it can safely return to a horizontal surface before the batteries die?

1) Who made the rule that these videos need background music? They don't. 2) Why do the people who select the music have such poor taste in music? This one is one of the worst. 3) Why does the recording quality have to be so poor? Disney of all companies, too.
Great looking toy!

OK, when you've watched it climb a wall once or twice, then what? Go back to watching paint dry?

Have to disagree, Daishi. Legs are still the only current solution for very rough terrain & for inside multi-story structures. Big Dog wasn't canceled because of its legs but because of its noisy IC powerplant. That's not to say anyone will be making military vehicles with legs anytime soon. They'll be a byproduct of the development of powered exoskeletons.

Amazing. Good job guys!

I like innovative ideas like this - it will likely lead to other innovations. However, I can see one problem here... if the robot is on a vertical surface, and it runs out of power it is likely to fall and break.