Slashdot Mirror
OmniTread: A serpentine robot
karvind writes "Physorg is running a story about OmniTread: a serpentine robot designed to traverse extremely difficult terrain, such as the rubble of a collapsed building. The 26-pound robot is developed at the University of Michigan U-M College of Engineering. It moves by rolling, log-style, or by lifting its head or tail, inchworm-like, and muscling itself forward. Link to videos. Check out there other robots as well."
It is efficient in several ways:
- Eliminates complicated gearing
- Every part that can come in contact with a surface has full torque
And when you are tethered to a cable anyways, and not run on battery power, you probably don't have to worry as much about efficiency.
That's exactly the kind of thing they want to use this type of robot for. They focus on rubble and similar terrain, because if it isn't hard to traverse, you might as well use wheels. Exploring mines and caves could be useful too, but urban search and rescue is a big topic now. After a disaster, you want to rescue people as fast as possible to save them, but the earlier after a collapse, the more dangerous it is for the rescuers who risk getting trapped themselves. Robots can be sent in immediately becuase you don't care much if you lose them.