Last month,
Medrobotics , a corporation that is associated with Carnegie Mellon University, has announced that it will begin
sell robotic snakes surgeons in Europe. These "snake»,
попадая in the patient's body through the throat , can help doctors get a hard accessible places of the human body without any cuts that would reduce patient recovery time after surgery.
But this is not the only use of robotic snakes that can swim, slide, crawl and climb like real. Over the past few years, researchers in laboratories around the world come up with new and innovative ways to apply these steep, and at the same time scary robots.
Who made the first robotic snake? B> h4>
Howie Choset, a professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon , is credited with the paternity of a robotic snake. He founded a company that makes surgical robots snakes. Last year Huffington Post he said he was afraid of snakes, but he notes that his snake robot "kind and friendly».
How to move the snake robots? B> h4>
According Biorobotics Lab at Carnegie Mellon , there are at least 10 major "gaits" robo-snake . Researchers say that they are able to simulate all the "biological gait" that have real snakes, and in some cases, to develop those "go beyond the abilities of biological snakes».
Here's a video where the snake climbs a vertical pipe:
Wait, robotic snakes swim ?! How? B> h4>
Robo-snake may be afloat as they covered with a waterproof leather . They glide over the surface of the water, using wireless control. Some snakes can swim completely underwater at a depth of 60 meters . And it's incredible!
Here's a sample of underwater robotic snakes developed in Tokyo HiBot :
Where robotic snake can be used h4>
1. Search and rescue h5>
Search and rescue dogs are vital in finding survivors after a disaster such as an earthquake or building collapse. But there are places that rescue dogs can not reach. That's where able to help search and rescue snake robot developed by Канеги From Mellon Biorobotics Lab and Ryerson University's Network-Centric Applied Research Team . They came up with a method called «Canine Assisted Robot Deployment», whose essence lies in the fact that when the dog approached the victim, who is stuck somewhere under the concrete blocks of a special vest that wears a dog, выползает robo-snake , which penetrates through the small gap to find the victim, providing lifeguards streaming video.
2. Purification of the oceans and lakes. B> h5>
One of the staff of the Institute of Technology in Taiwan suggested a way to use the robot snake for disposal from harmful metals in water bodies . In most snake contain special bacteria that destroy toxic substances, so when the snake passes through a water outlet that is clean. This idea is in the early stages of development, but исследователи say , these robots snakes can be used to clean lakes, rivers and oceans are already in 2020.
3. Warface h5>
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) first разработали robot snake back in 2009. The robot can be used for the inspection of buildings, sewers, and other structures during urban warfare . According to ISO, robo-snake is used to monitor activity in the building and for laying explosives. The US Army has also worked on the разработкой robotic snakes .
4. Check NPP h5>
Last year, the robo-snake used for research nuclear power plant in Austria. The researchers hope that robots will be able to find the radioactive part of the plant and storage facilities, which may not be safe for humans. Their robots can inspect and take high-quality pictures of "dry storage containers, tanks and piping in nuclear power." Hitachi Ltd. and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Ltd. and разработали robo-snake this year to explore one of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
5. Heart surgery h5>
6. Exploring Mars h5>
Researchers in Norway are developing a robot snake that can move on and work with the Mars rover to collect samples. Researchers Pål Liljebäck and Aksel Transeth said in Discovery News last year that while "the rover Spirit was lost after stuck in the sand." snake robots will be able to avoid these traps.
7. Scare your friends h5>
