{"79331":{"#nid":"79331","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Snakes Improve Search-and-Rescue Robots","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDesigning an all-terrain robot for search-and-rescue\nmissions is an arduous task for scientists. The machine must be flexible enough\nto move over uneven surfaces, yet not so big that it\u2019s restricted from tight\nspaces. It might also be required to climb slopes of varying inclines. Existing\nrobots can do many of these things, but the majority require large amounts of energy\nand are prone to overheating. Georgia Tech researchers have designed a new machine\nby studying the locomotion of a certain type of flexible, efficient animal. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy using their scales to control frictional properties,\nsnakes are able to move large distances while exerting very little energy,\u201d\nsaid Hamid Marvi, a Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. candidate at Georgia Tech. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile studying and videotaping the movements of 20 different\nspecies at Zoo Atlanta, Marvi developed Scalybot 2, a robot that replicates\nrectilinear locomotion of snakes. He unveiled the robot this month at the\nSociety for Integrative \u0026amp; Comparative Biology (SICB) annual meeting in\nCharleston, S.C. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDuring \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TuyjtX0tdkU\u0022\u003Erectilinear\nlocomotion\u003C\/a\u003E, a snake doesn\u2019t have to bend its body laterally to move,\u201d\nexplained Marvi. \u201cSnakes lift their ventral scales and pull themselves forward\nby sending a muscular traveling wave from head to tail. Rectilinear locomotion is\nvery efficient and is especially useful for crawling within crevices, an\ninvaluable benefit for search-and-rescue robots.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScalybot 2 can automatically change the angle of its scales when\nit encounters different terrains and slopes. This adjustment allows the robot\nto either fight or generate friction. The two-link robot is controlled by a\nremote-controlled joystick and can move forward and backward using four motors.\n\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSnakes are highly maligned creatures,\u201d said Joe Mendelson, curator\nof herpetology at Zoo Atlanta. \u201cI really like that Hamid\u2019s research is showing\nthe public that snakes can help people.\u201d \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarvi\u2019s advisor is David Hu, an assistant professor in the\nSchools of Mechanical Engineering and Biology. Hu and his research team are\nprimarily focused on animal locomotion. They\u2019ve studied how dogs and other\nanimals shake water off their bodies and how mosquitos fly through rainstorms. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis isn\u2019t the first time Hu\u2019s lab has looked at snake locomotion.\nLast summer the team developed Scalybot 1, a two-link climbing robot that replicates\nconcertina locomotion. The push-and-pull, accordion-style movement features\nalternating scale activity. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis project is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF)\n(Award No. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPHY-0848894\u003Cem\u003E). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal\ninvestigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New Robot is Designed to Use Less Energy"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDesigning an all-terrain robot for search-and-rescue\nmissions is an arduous task for scientists. The machine must be flexible enough\nto move over uneven surfaces, yet not so big that it\u2019s restricted from tight\nspaces. It might also be required to climb slopes of varying inclines. Existing\nrobots can do many of these things, but the majority require large amounts of energy\nand are prone to overheating. Georgia Tech researchers have designed a new machine\nby studying the locomotion of snakes. \u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers have designed a new machine by studying the locomotion of a certain type of flexible, efficient animal: snakes."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2012-01-19 10:17:32","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:57","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-01-19T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-01-19T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"79321":{"id":"79321","type":"image","title":"Scalybot 2 Photo","body":null,"created":"1449178063","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:43","changed":"1475894693","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:53","alt":"Scalybot 2 Photo","file":{"fid":"193888","name":"screen_shot_2012-01-13_at_9.47.24_am_0.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screen_shot_2012-01-13_at_9.47.24_am_0_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screen_shot_2012-01-13_at_9.47.24_am_0_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":629275,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/screen_shot_2012-01-13_at_9.47.24_am_0_0.png?itok=5ajQ51cO"}}},"media_ids":["79321"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kIHlRLKMG9M","title":"Scalybot 2 Demonstration"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/","title":"George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Biology"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.zooatlanta.org\/","title":"Zoo Atlanta website"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"277","name":"Biology"},{"id":"297","name":"David Hu"},{"id":"541","name":"Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"169002","name":"Snakes"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}