Snake robot to the rescue
From Automaton correspondent Sally Adee:
New Scientist's blog has an interview with Johann Borenstein, the father of
the OmniTread serpentine robot. Borenstein thinks this could be a new way to find people in collapsed buildings or otherwise disaster areas. The snake configuration lets the robot slither through small holes as well as get over tall obstacles and across extreme terrain. Controlling one, however, requires more than a flute and a basket.
"We currently need three operators," Borenstein told New Scientist. "Each operator controls two joints of our six-joint OmniTread. Typically all joints need to be controlled at all times."
OmniTread, Johann Borenstein, Snake Robot, UMich
Automaton
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