Like a game Snake come to life, a new robot being developed at Stanford grows like a vine and has the ability to weave through tight spaces to provide applications from disaster relief to simplifying construction projects.
The main idea behind the robot is uncomplicated; the “snake” is a tube of soft thin plastic that is folded inside itself. As the material is forced out, either pneumatically or hydraulically, the robot grows longer. According to Stanford, the robot’s design is so useful because the tip moves and results in growth while the body remains stationary, making it incredibly difficult for the robot to become stuck.
“The body can be stuck to the environment or jammed between rocks, but that doesn’t stop the robot because the tip can continue to progress as new material is added to the end,” says Elliot Hawkes, a visiting Assistant Professor from the University of California, Santa Barbara in a Stanford article on the robot.
As the robot grows, it can pull cables along, which means it could be used in the construction industry to help wire new and renovated buildings by traveling in the walls, floors, or ceilings. The robot can make turns via a control system that differentially inflates the body and a software system bases direction decisions on images received from a camera at the tip, so pipes or other obstacles already located in the wall, ceiling, or floor space become non-issues.
Other applications include scaling the robot up for search and rescue operations, growing vertically to act as an antenna, or being used to deliver materials, such as water, to hard to reach places.
The robot is detailed in a Science Robotics paper published on June 19.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Free waterproofing and roofing resource handbook available from American Hydrotech
American Hydrotech is now offering a waterproofing and roofing resource handbook for all architects and design community professionals. Topics include sustainable design, waterproof product specification, and proper installation techniques for use by building professionals in designing and waterproofing roof decks, plazas, vertical foundations, reflecting pools, and green roof applications.
| Aug 11, 2010
World-Class Revival on Utah’s Capitol Hill
Since 1916, the Utah State Capitol building has served as the foundation of Utah’s government, housing the state legislature operations as well as the offices of the governor, attorney general, and treasurer. But after decades of wear and tear and numerous short-sighted modernization attempts, Utah’s rock was on the verge of crumbling.
| Aug 11, 2010
Installation work begins on Minnesota's largest green roof
Installation of the 2.5 acre green roof vegetation on the City-owned Target Center begins today. Over the course of two days a 165 ton crane will hoist five truckloads of plant material, which includes 900 rolls of pre-grown vegetated mats of sedum and native plants for installation on top of the arena's main roof.
| Aug 11, 2010
AASHE releases annual review of sustainability in higher education
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has announced the release of AASHE Digest 2008, which documents the continued rapid growth of campus sustainability in the U.S. and Canada. The 356-page report, available as a free download on the AASHE website, includes over 1,350 stories that appeared in the weekly AASHE Bulletin last year.
| Aug 11, 2010
'Flexible' building designed to physically respond to the environment
The ecoFLEX project, designed by a team from Shepley Bulfinch, has won a prestigious 2009 Unbuilt Architecture Design Award from the Boston Society of Architects. EcoFLEX features heat-sensitive assemblies composed of a series of bi-material strips. The assemblies’ form modulate with the temperature to create varying levels of shading and wind shielding, flexing when heated to block sunlight and contracting when cooled to allow breezes to pass through the screen.
| Aug 11, 2010
New book provides energy efficiency guidance for hotels
Recommendations on achieving 30% energy savings over minimum code requirements are contained in the newly published Advanced Energy Design Guide for Highway Lodging. The energy savings guidance for design of new hotels provides a first step toward achieving a net-zero-energy building.
