New flexible snake-like robot

March 2, 2013

Flexible robot snakes its way where humans cannot go

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/recovery/AJ201303020011

By SHINGO FUKUSHIMA/ Staff Writer

NATORI, Miyagi Prefecture--Developers have unveiled a snake-like robot that they say can worm its way around obstacles and take videos in hard-to-reach places, such as disaster sites piled with rubble.

Known as the "Robo Scope," the device is the work of general contractor Shimizu Corp., Tohoku University and the Kobe-based International Rescue System Institute, a nonprofit organization. The researchers showed the device to reporters here on Feb. 28.

The hose-shaped robot is 7 centimeters in diameter and 10 meters long. Its segments carry a dense brush made of fine nylon hairs. The hairs vibrate, and, acting like the cilia of micro-organisms, they inch the robot forward.

The head of the robot can be adapted to carry various sensors. A video camera would allow it to search for survivors trapped beneath rubble, while a dosimeter would allow operators to explore conditions inside a damaged nuclear plant without risking human life.