Snaking over Rugged Terrain

Posted 23 Mar 2005 at 18:12 UTC by steve

Roland Piquepaille writes, "Engineers from the University of Michigan have developed a snake-like robot that conquers obstacles. It is composed of 5 segments of 8-inch diameter each and weighs 26 pounds. It is currently piloted by a human operator and can maneuver in extremely rugged terrain, climbing stairs and pipes. 'It moves by rolling, log-style, or by lifting its head or tail, inchworm-like, and muscling itself forward.' The robot will be used for industrial inspection and surveillance in hazardous environments, and also for military and urban search and rescue operations." For more details and photos of the robot, see Roland's blog. See also our earlier story on a smaller snake-like robot developed by NASA.

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This may just be the start, posted 24 Mar 2005 at 13:26 UTC by c6jones720 » (Master)

Something tells me we'll be seeing a lot more snake type robots in the near future. I recently went to a job interview right here in Bristol England where snake robots for bomb disposal are made. They look strange up close but they can be surprisingly practical for some applications!