As is well known, there is a snake for every climate, type of vegetation and geographic location, each with particular characteristics according to the conditions of its habitat. But what is unique among them all is their ability to crawl through trees and shrubs of all kinds.
It is for this reason that, thanks to this particularity of movements, a team of engineers from Johns Hopkins University in the United States created a snake robot that, of course, can crawl up the largest steps.
Therefore, this new invention is a breakthrough in case you need to search in difficult terrain where no one else can reach.
The solution for all types of rescues: learn all about the snake robot
To arrive at this solution, the engineers first studied how a snake, of a kind common in both deserts and some tropical forests, climbed the steps in the laboratory.
There, they were able to experiment and study the movements of the animals, with the aim of building the robot with much more versatility than some that have been designed with conventional procedures.
According to Chen Li, one of the engineers, explains that:
“These snakes have to regularly travel through rocks and fallen trees. They are adept at executing movements to accomplish this and there is much we can learn from them.”
The engineers conducted a series of experiments, changing the height of the steps, friction of the surfaces and anything else that would help them analyze how the snake twisted its body in response to each barrier. This is how they finally created the robot that perfectly imitates their movements.
As at first the snake had difficulty moving naturally and got stuck in the middle of the steps. The solution was to insert a suspension system (like that of a car) in each body segment. This, so that it could compress each segment against the surface at its convenience.
Finally, the snake robot was able to be more stable and was able to climb steps with a height of up to 38% of its body length, with a success rate of almost 100%. The only disadvantage is that, with the added suspension system, it consumes more electricity.
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