Patriotic Robot Snake Climbs Trees, is Creepy(named Uncle Sam)

Geekosystem ^ | 09/06/10 | James Plafke

[TigerLikesRooster]

Patriotic Robot Snake Climbs Trees, is Creepy

by James Plafke | 12:50 pm, September 6th, 2010

A team of students at Carnegie Mellon’s Biorobotics Lab built a robotic snake, which they named “Uncle Sam,” that is able to climb trees and, most of all, be creepy. Check out the video below.

Uncle Sam can mimic a real snake’s movement, including being able to wrap itself around trees and use a vertical roll to maneuver upward. The “face” of the robot helps make Uncle Sam a great spy tool, being able to climb up trees or poles and peer into windows. Now all the robotics students have to do is make it inconspicuous and depart with the flamboyant, easily detectable patriotic colors.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Jobs for paparazzis are made much easier. Insect robots, snake robots can do it up close. You can even run a web site featuring image stream sent from these robots. The brave new world is the paradise of peeping Tom's. LOL.

[Nervous Tick]

THat’s pretty cool!

Don’t miss the video link — and watch carefully for the extension cord.

I’m not kidding, the thing is powered from an orange extension cord! They do a pretty good job of hiding it but not a perfect job.

[TigerLikesRooster]

You are right. It was outside the video frame most of the time.

[KarlInOhio]

Finally my robot mongoose will have a target. And they said I was mad for building it.

[tob2]

That is pretty cool! It looks like a bunch of soda cans strung together and powered by an electrical cord. The lyrics of a country western song went through my mind: “..... sneaky snake .......” lol