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Carnegie Mellon University has developed a snake-like robot that can work underwater. This makes it a tool that can come in handy for inspecting boats and underwater infrastructure, as well as getting on with other tasks.
A team from the Biorobotics Lab of the Robotics Institute at the CMU School of Computer Science last month tested the Hardened Underwater Modular Robot Snake (HUMRS) in the university pool. The robot dived through underwater tires, demonstrated its precise and steady swimming skills and demonstrated its ease of control.
« My research group has been working on snake robots for some time, » said Howie Choset, Kavcic Moura professor of computer science. “The great thing about these robots is that they can get into tight spaces that humans and machines cannot otherwise.”
The submersible robot snake was developed through a grant from the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute. The project is designed to assist the Department of Defense with tasks such as inspecting ships, submarines, and underwater infrastructure for damage or performing routine maintenance, said Matt Fischer, program manager at the ARM Institute who works on the project can inspect, the Navy must either send a team of divers to the ship, wait for it to return to port to deploy divers, or put the ship in a dry dock. These options are all expensive and time consuming.
However, a submersible robotic snake would allow the Navy to inspect ships at sea, alert the crew immediately in the event of critical damage, or bring information to port about problems that might require attention Send.
« If they can get this information before the ship gets to a homeport or dry dock, it will save weeks or months of time on a maintenance plan, » said Fischer, who served in the Navy for three years. « And that in turn saves money. »
The technology can be used to inspect subsea pipes for damage or blockages, assess offshore oil platforms, or check the integrity of a tank while it is filled with liquid.
Versions of the robot snakes have already proven beneficial in such circumstances. In 2017, a team deployed robotic snakes to help on a search and rescue mission after an earthquake in Mexico City.The modular design of the robot makes it adaptable and adept at squeezing, climbing and To navigate curves.
The robots can be customized to the needs of unique projects, which Choset says gives their robots an edge over other types of snake robots made by other groups.
« What our robots a little bit different from the others is that it is really modular. You can build a bespoke robot for any task almost as easily as assembling a Lego, ”said Choset. “No two ships are exactly alike, and no two operations are exactly alike in search and rescue. Since our robot has a modular structure, we can change it on site in real time. «
To create the underwater version of the robotic snake, the team used existing waterproof modules that allow the robot to operate in poor conditions. Then they added new modules that contain the turbines and thrusters that the robot uses under Maneuvering water.
The team started work on the underwater robotic snake last July. Last month they floated it in the CMU pool.
« The main reason we did this is because that Carnegie Mellon just has great people, hardworking, dedicated, smart, creative people who build wonderful devices.
« The second reason is that we embraced this idea of modularity. They were able to put these modules together from any group by doing really well on one thing while understanding how their pieces fit together. “
Choset said he was still looking to improve the technology further, noting that they could potentially make underwater snake robots that are faster, lighter, or cheaper.
» We want that it’s sturdy and accessible, « he said. « Rugged means we can get where it won’t break, and one person can drive it around as easily as one who drives a car. We also want to make it accessible so that pretty much every ship in the Navy can «
Julia Felton is a contributor to Tribune Review. You can contact Julia at 724-226-7724, [email protected], or on Twitter.
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