Robot Snake Climbs Trees, Causes Nightmares

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s Biorobotics Lab have created a robot snake that can slither across outdoor terrain, climb trees, and scout around. A quick viewing of the video below  left me thinking about how this robotic animal might just murder me in my sleep. Perhaps I’ve read too much Ray Bradbury.

Named Uncle Sam, the robot mimics the movements of actual snakes to become a functional machine. Sure, we may assume the robots of the future will be humanoid and look like Robin Williams, but bots like this one reinforce that the robotics future will likely be inspired by the animal kingdom.

Uncle Sam uses a modular design to roll, wriggle and side-wind. As you can see in the video, it pulls itself around a tree and then “rolls” up it to climb. A camera in the “head” of the snake adds to the functionality of the robot, letting it get to places humans may find difficult. In particular, researchers in this area believe that “modsnakes” like this will be very helpful in rescue missions in collapsed buildings.

But just imagine what it might be like to be trapped in a downed building for days to eventually be confronted with a slithering robot moving toward you. I’d be grabbing the closest weapon, that’s for sure.

[via Singularity Hub]