Researchers learn robotslang better move by watching real snake

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University let their snake-like modular robots better crawl on the basis of research into how real hoornratelslangen moving. Now the robotslangen faster and sharper turns.

The hoornratelslang moves smoothly forward in desert-like environments, also if they have a sand dune on need. Research from september of last year in Science, showed how the snakes do: they change the part that is in contact with the sand. It was found that the movement of the hose fairly easily modeled as a combination of vertical and horizontal lichaamsgolven.

The follow-up study in which the scientists elaborate on the precise movement of the hose coming in, stands Tuesday in the online edition of the journal Pnas. What proved to be the hoornratelslang change step-by-step changes in direction, by the horizontal wave, the wave will be parallel to the ground, to adapt, while the vertical wave remains constant. A large phase change in the vertical wave gave the serpent the possibility of a sharp turn in the opposite direction. By this way of moving also with the robot to enter, could the robotslang on the same run as the real snake and at the same time, the robot easier to control.

The modular slangenrobot from the study was specially designed for horizontal and vertical waves through its body to move in all axis directions. The robotslang which the tests were performed had 16 joints, and was taking 27 different poses to adopt. The mechanical animal was 94cm long and weighed in at 3.15 kg. Movies with moving real hoornratelslangen and the mechanical cousin to see in Pnas itself.

The movie below is not an illustration of what the researchers are the robotslang now have to do. See for movies this link. These are videos associated with the article from Pnas that we aren’t just here to copy.