Carnegie Mellon's snake robot – now better able to ascend sandy slopes (Photo: CMU)

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If a robot is looking for victims at a disaster site, or even exploring another planet, then it certainly better not get stuck in the sand. That may now be a little less likely to happen, as scientists recently studied one of the best sand-travelers in the animal kingdom – the sidewinder rattlesnake. After they analyzed its movement patterns and applied them to an existing snake-inspired robot, that robot was better able climb up sandy inclines.

The sidewinder is widely known for its ability to quickly undulate across the sand in a sideways orientation. Carnegie Mellon University's snake robot, on the other hand, traditionally hasn't done quite as well – in a 2011 archeological mission in the Red Sea, it couldn't move up sandy slopes in caves.

Fortunately for CMU, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Oregon State University recently became interested in using the robot to help themselves understand just what it is that allows sidewinders to move so well. In order to do so, they started by setting up a sloping sand-filled enclosure at Zoo Atlanta, then got six sidewinders to climb from the bottom to the top. By analyzing high-speed video of the reptiles in action, the subtleties of their movements became easier to discern.

In particular, it was noted that the snakes climb by moving their bodies in two independently-controlled waves. By continuously adjusting the aspect ratio of those waves, both vertically and horizontally, they can control what parts of their body are in contact with the sand. The steeper the slope, the more the total contact area.

When that pattern was programmed into the robot's movements, it was able to climb slopes that would have previously been impossible for it to manage.

"This type of robot often is described as biologically-inspired, but too often the inspiration doesn't extend beyond a casual observation of the biological system," said Carnegie Mellon professor of robotics, Howie Choset. "In this study, we got biology and robotics, mediated by physics, to work together in a way not previously seen."

A paper on the research was published today in the journal Science.

蛇形机器人学着像响尾蛇一样攀爬缠绕

卡内基·梅隆大学的蛇形机器人 - 现在能够更好地提升沙质斜坡（图片：CMU）

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如果一个机器人正在寻找受害者在灾难现场，甚至是探索另一颗行星的话，那肯定是最好不要陷在沙子里。现在可能有点不太可能发生，因为科学家们最近研究了最好的沙旅客在动物王国之一 - 响尾蛇响尾蛇。之后，他们分析了运动模式，并将其应用到现有的蛇形机器人的启发，那机器人是能够更好地爬上沙滩倾斜

响尾蛇是众所周知的，因为它能够在整个沙快速波动中横盘方向。卡内基·梅隆大学的蛇形机器人，而另一方面，传统上并没有这样做，以及相当 - 在红海2011年的考古任务，它不能移沙山坡洞穴

幸运的CMU，研究人员在佐治亚理工学院和俄勒冈州立大学最近成为兴趣使用机器人来帮助自己理解只是它是什么，让响尾蛇移动这么好。为了做到这一点，他们开始通过设置一个倾斜的沙子填充的外壳在亚特兰大动物园，然后拿到了6响尾蛇从底部到顶部攀升。通过分析运行中的爬行动物的高速视频，其走势的细微之处变得更容易辨别。

特别是，有人指出，蛇爬上通过移动自己的身体在两个独立控制的波。通过不断调整这些波的高宽比，垂直和水平，他们可以控制他们的身体的部分是在与砂接触。的斜率越陡，更总接触面积。

当该图案被编程到机器人的动作，这是能够攀爬，将先前已经不可能它来管理斜坡。

“这种类型的机器人的往往是描述为生物启发，但往往灵感不超出一个偶然的观察生物系统，说：“机器人技术的卡内基·梅隆大学教授，豪伊Choset。 “在这项研究中，我们得到了生物和机器人技术，通过物理介导的，在以前没有见过的方式一起工作。”

上研究的论文已在今日的科学杂志