Technology
All-Terrain Robotics
by Patrick Tucker
The Ommn/Tread: Univ of Michiganm Mobile Robotics Laboratory
Snakelike robot slithers over rough landscape.
The newest robot to come out of the University of Michigan
is anything but your
typical droid. The OmniTread,
nicknamed "snakebot," resembles a slinking, slithering monster more than an
engineering marvel. The robot’s five breadbox-sized segments, interconnected via a
long drive shaft, are covered in thick rubber tracks that look like a set of serpentine
scales. These tracks propel the OmniTread over smooth as well as rough terrain. Pneumatic
bellows rest in the four joint cavities, endowing the robot with snakelike flexibility and
torque enough to lift its head or tail—innovations that distinguish it from other
robots. Historically, wheeled or tracked robots stall on uneven or variant surfaces.
OmniTread is controlled via a joystick and long powercord. But a version
capable of limited independent movement is currently in development and is expected in
December.
"We first began developing serpentine robots in 1998," says
Johann Borenstein, head of the University of Michigan Mobile Robotics Lab. "The
OmniTread model came out of those efforts." So far, the new robot has performed
admirably in tests. It was able to climb an 18-inch curb (more than twice its height),
cross a narrow trench, and climb a portion of a wall.
Borenstein foresees three principal areas of application, the first and
most immediate being urban search and rescue. OmniTread’s strong, flexible body is
ideal for searching out the nooks and crevices of collapsed buildings for potential
survivors. Also of great interest both to Borenstein and to the Department of
Energy—among the project’s chief benefactors—is the area of industrial
inspection, where the robot could be used for scouting potential waste deposit sites for
suitability and ensuring that current subterranean waste sites are secure.
Military uses of the snakelike robot are also possible. "You can
imagine how our troops in Afghanistan might use the device to investigate caves as well as
other dangerous or difficult to reach places," says Borenstein. You can also imagine
NASA expressing interest. Given the robot’s unique capabilities, might we be looking
at the next-generation Martian rover?
Source: University of Michigan News, 412 Maynard Street,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109. Website www.umich.edu/news.
