Communications of the ACM
Snakes and Snake-Like Robots Show How Sidewinders Conquer Sandy Slopes
A snake-like robot developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University was able to climb sloping sand when it was programmed with the unique wave motion discovered in live sidewinder snakes.
Credit: Carnegie Mellon University
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Oregon State University, and Zoo Atlanta have improved the ability of a snake-like robot to traverse sandy slopes by examining how real-life snakes move.
Prior to the study, the snake robot could use one component of sidewinding motion to move across level ground, but it was unable to climb the inclined sandy slope that real snakes could easily ascend. The researchers reprogrammed the robot with the unique wave motion observed in biological sidewinders, enabling it to climb slopes that had previously been unattainable.
"By studying the animal and the physical model simultaneously, we learned important general principles that allowed us to not only understand the animal, but also to improve the robot," says Georgia Tech professor Daniel Goldman.
The researchers demonstrated that both horizontal and vertical motion had to be replicated on the snake-like robot for it to be useful on sloping sand. They employed a modular snake robot specifically designed to pass horizontal and vertical waves through its body to move in three-dimensional spaces.
"In this study, we got biology and robotics, mediated by physics, to work together in a way not previously seen," says CMU professor Howie Choset.
From Georgia Tech News Center
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