A snake robot with impressive performance is another step in the evolution of developing robots for use as unmanned vehicles.
By: Yael Halfman Cohen
A snake robot that imitates the movement of a snake and is designed to replace people in dangerous or inaccessible areas has already been developed in the past. At the Technion, for example, it was developed in the past snake robot In cooperation with MPAAT, the Authority for the Development of Weapons.
Recently, the American robotics company Sarcos (sarcos), developed another snake-like robot, the Guardian S, a robot that is waterproof and capable of moving on different surfaces, moving through narrow pipes and up stairs. The robot is even able to rise up like a cobra and climb up walls, thanks to its magnetic body. In contrast, other robot solutions that move on the floor have limited mobility over challenging terrain, limited range of motion, short battery life, and more weight. In the following video you can watch the performance of the robot:
Guardian S has a unique design that gives it advantages in movement. While previous robotic solutions were based on two trajectories of movement, similar to tank caterpillars, the design of the Guardian S includes a front and rear caterpillar and in between them another part capable of performing more complex movements, which increase the range of movement. The Guardian is capable of continuing to operate for 18 hours, and is operated by a remote similar to a video game remote. It includes various sensors including infrared sensors, radiation, gas, vibrations, 360D mapping and XNUMX degree video recording. All of these enable the collection of information on the go.
The Guardian is a significant step towards unmanned ground vehicles, intended for various tasks in dangerous areas for humans, including operational tasks, bomb extraction, dealing with dangerous materials, functioning in disaster areas and more.
Sarkos intends to start marketing the robot as soon as next month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfYAvWIfhYY
