Research on a Sea Snake Robot

Since a snake achieves various movements just by a slender body, the mechanism of it is very amazing Many researches have been focusing on a snake like robot and have done for it on the ground. However the meander motion of the snake not only can be done by ground creatures, but also can be done by a water creature such as a sea snake or an eel. Therefore, the purpose of our research is to develop an autonomous underwater robot like the sea snake. As an approach to this goal, we develop an experimental sea snake-like-robot for examining basic characteristics, including propulsion, a turning and other performance. Our developed robot is composed of the head and 4 bodies. Each body equips one servomotor, which is operated with pulse signal. In the head unit, 1- chip-microcomputer, which generates the servomotor control signal for realizing a snake motion and the battery, is equipped. Our robot is covered with a rubber film for the waterproof. Using our developed robot, characteristics of the snake-like-robot moved in water are examined.