NewScientist.com has news of a test by LiftPort Group, a private company with the goal of building a space elevator by April 2018. The tether used in this test was not composed of carbon-fiber nanotubes, as the actual space tether will use. Rather it was a composite of carbon-fiber strings and fiberglass tape, so I'm not sure what the test is supposed to prove.The other surprising thing was that the robotic "lifters" which were supposed to climb up and down the tether only made it to about 460 meters - a bit short of the 1.6 km they were shooting for. They are still in the process of troubleshooting what went wrong.
Based on this test and the problems encountered by every entry in last years Centennial Challenge competition, there must be more to having a robot climb a rope than is immediately apparent.
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