Design and Synthesis of Multi-Segmented Robot to Mimic Serpentine Motion

The type of locomotion achieved by reptilian organisms such as snakes is a truly fascinating phenomenon. Replicating the serpentine movement is a difficult task, but once such it is replicated to some degree, it could be used to make robots which have a large scope of application in many different fields. Replication of this type of motion makes it easier to access constricted areas in search and rescue operations carried out by response teams during, say, natural disasters. Also, if such movement can be replicated in an appropriately sized robot, it can be used in surveillance applications too. Serpentine motion, when properly replicated, can also open up new avenues for robots that are used to navigated clustered terrain. This paper represents a progress report on the research about different ways of achieving serpentine motion in robots using electromechanical and mechanical components. The robot shown in this paper was synthesized, and it was able to achieve serpentine and sidewinding motions.