CMU teaches its snake robot to swim
The snake robot has been something of an institution in the Carnegie Mellon robotics labs. Every time I visit the school, the biomimetic robot has seemingly learned a new trick. This week, the school announced it has added swimming to the list.
Testing actually began last month in one of CMU’s pools, with the snake robot outfitted with new housing designed for underwater navigation. Work on the project began last July. “I’m surprised that we made this robot work as fast as we did,” professor Howie Choset said in a release tied to the announcement. “The secret is the modularity and the people working on this technology at CMU.”
Carnegie Mellon s Snakebot Takes to the Water
Photo: Carnegie Mellon University
Looking like a cross between an oboe and a squid from the matrix, Carnegie Mellon University’s Hardened Underwater Modular Robot Snake (HUMRS) is a sight to behold. Created by researchers Howie Choset and Matt Travers, the project is part of the university’s Biorobotics Lab in the school of Computer Science.
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The point of the robot? To explore nooks and crannies that divers and other biological lifeforms can’t access.
“We can go places that other robots cannot,” said Choset. “It can snake around and squeeze into hard-to-reach underwater spaces.”
Biorobotics Lab builds submersible robot snake
Carnegie Mellon University’s acclaimed snake-like robot can now slither its way underwater, allowing the modular robotics platform to inspect ships, submarines and infrastructure for damage.
A team from the Biorobotics Lab in the School of Computer Science’s Robotics Institute tested the Hardened Underwater Modular Robot Snake (HUMRS) last month in the university’s pool, diving the robot through underwater hoops, showing off its precise and smooth swimming, and demonstrating its ease of control.
“We can go places that other robots cannot,” said Howie Choset, the Kavčić-Moura Professor of Computer Science. “It can snake around and squeeze into hard-to-reach underwater spaces.”