A robot snake that can slither across the ground could be used for rescue tasks or inspecting hard-to-reach places.
Snakes can get around in different ways. When on flat, slippery ground like a desert, some move by sidewinding, in which they undulate in a series of S-shaped bends. This can help by minimising their contact with the hot ground.
In more complex environments, they can roll in a spiral motion, which helps them avoid touching sections of the ground with their body. Until now, combining these movements has only been managed fully in robotic snakes that use wheels, which are unsuitable for many real settings.
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Now, at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, and his colleagues have developed a robotic snake that can replicate these movements just by wriggling.
The snake is made up of four independently moving sections connected with a rigid, plastic backbone. A spiral of compressed-air tubes runs round all the sections, and the whole thing is wrapped in rubber for better grip on the ground.
The researchers tested the snake on the carpet of their laboratory floor, using different pressures and frequencies of movement, and filmed its motions. This allowed them to compare its movements against that of a real snake, and they found it could reproduce both the sidewinding and spiral-rolling motion.
The robot could be useful for investigating places that are awkward to get to, says Arachchige. 鈥淪nakes naturally have a low cross-section-to-length ratio. Because of that, we can send them through very narrow areas like drainage or sewage lines, and perform inspection or search-and-rescue operations.鈥�
The robot snake currently only works because external tubes force compressed air through its elongated body. To work beyond the lab, the researchers will need to shrink this system or use a mechanical alternative to air, says Arachchige.
arXiv
