SNAKE ROBOT – The future of agile motion

ABSTRACT

Crawling movement as a motive mode seen in nature of some animals such as snakes possesses a specific syntactic and dynamic analysis. Serpentine robot designed by inspiration from nature and snake’s crawling motion, is regarded as a crawling robot. In this article, a serpentine robot with spiral motion model will be analyzed. The purpose of this analysis is to calculate the vertical and tangential forces along snake’s body and to determine the parameters affecting on these forces. The different types and functions of snake robots are listed. Biological snakes are pervasive across the planet; their diverse locomotion modes and Physiology make them supremely adapted for the wide variety of terrains, environments and climates that they inhabit. A snake-like device that could slide, glide and slither could open up many applications in exploration, hazardous environments inspection andmedical interventions. One of the fundamental issues is understanding their locomotion. A wheel turns; the vehicle moves. A leg pushes; the vehicle moves. How a snake moves is not so evident. A worthwhile snake robot has the ability to wriggle into confined areas and traverse terrain that would pose problems for traditional wheeled or legged robots

INTRODUCTION

Biological snakes are pervasive across the planet; their diverse locomotion modes and Physiology make them supremely adapted for the wide variety of terrains, environments and climates that they inhabit. A snake-like device that could slide, glide and slither could open up many applications in exploration, hazardous environments, inspection and medical interventions.

One of the fundamental issues is understanding their locomotion. A wheel turns; the vehicle moves. A leg pushes; the vehicle moves. How a snake moves is not so evident. A worthwhile snake robot has the ability to wriggle into confined areas and traverse terrain that would pose problems for traditional wheeled or legged robots.. The design and implementation of a snake robot is the confluence of several technologies: actuation, form and structure, electronics, control, sensing, etcetera.

Why Serpentine Locomotion?

For centuries, people have created a menagerie of machines whose appearance and movement have mirrored animals to an astonishing degree. The general motivations for serpentine locomotors are environments where traditional machines are precluded due to size or shape. Example environments include tight spaces, long narrow interior traverses, and travel over loose materials and terrains. Wheels offer smooth and efficient locomotion but often require modifications to terrains for best use.
Integration is complicated, even intractable, if individual areas are not thought of in the whole.

SNAKE ROBOT – The future of agile motion