--- title: "Scary New Robot Can Climb Walls" description: "Spiderman Can New nightmare fuel just dropped. Meet Magnecko, a four-legged and absolutely terrifying new robot that can Spiderman up walls and across ceilings with the help of its magnetic feet. Created by a team of eight engineering students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, the bot, per New Atlas, is […]" date: "2023-07-28" modified: "2023-07-28" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/robot-climb-walls" categories: - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "climbing robot" - "robots" - "surveillance" - "the digest" --- # Scary New Robot Can Climb Walls ![Meet Magnecko, a four-legged and absolutely terrifying new robot that can Spiderman up walls and across ceilings using its magnetic feet.]() *\Image: ETH Zurich\* ## Spider-Man Can New nightmare fuel just dropped. Meet Magnecko — yes, that's seriously its name — a four-legged and absolutely terrifying new robot that can clamber up walls and across ceilings with the help of its magnetic clodhoppers. Created by a team of eight engineering students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, the bot, [per *New Atlas*,]() is designed to help industrial workers and engineers perform inspections and repairs on tall metal structures. It's dangerous and often impossible for humans to shimmy up and into these spaces, and as *New Atlas* notes, although aerial drones can offer *some* assistance, their limited battery life often hampers their usefulness. According to its creators, Magnecko solves these problems — as long as a structure is magnetic, that is. "Industrial and maritime environments need to be inspected regularly. Although there are many solutions for remote visual inspections, they often fail in confined and narrow spaces," reads the project's [website](). "Our robot *magnecko* is designed to address these constraints." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciOMNbO3In4 ## 100 Gecks Judging by the project's site, it seems that the name Magnecko was inspired by wall-climbing gecko lizards — in addition, of course, to its magnetic trotters. And speaking of, these magnetic feet are ridiculously strong, with each able to hold up to 2.5 times the robot's total weight. Per *New Atlas*, Magnecko isn't yet autonomous and has to be controlled by a remote operator. But it is able to follow an operator-set path on its own without further guidance, and the student engineers behind the project certainly don't seem to be ruling future automation out. "We plan on preparing the robot for inspection work first, but nothing prevents it from doing autonomous maintenance or remotely operated repairs in the future," team member Nicolas Faesch told *New Atlas*. "It can support payloads of several kilograms and with its insect-style configuration, it can easily position itself as required." While we can see the machine's inspection capabilities being legitimately useful, however, there is a serious caveat to the tech: surveillance. Magnecko's battery life and ability to scale structures for a bird's eye view might make the spiderbot a powerful potential surveillance tool, and its creators aren't at all shy about this prospective — not to mention [dystopian]() — use case. "Surveillance is also a very interesting use case since the robot can hang in one spot for multiple hours to perform a task," Faesch told *New Atlas**, "*thanks to the special magnetic feet that don’t require any power to stay magnetized." **More on robots:** [*Ikea Trembles as Scientists Invent Flat Packable Robot*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()