Snake-Like Robots
For most people, snakes seem unpleasant or even threatening. But Howie Choset sees in their delicate movements a way to save lives.
The 37-year-old Carnegie Mellon University professor has 1 (spend)years developing snake-like robots he hopes will ually slide through fallen buildings in search of victims 2 (trap) after natural disasters or other emergencies.
Dan Kara is president of Robotics Trends, a Northboro, Mass. based company that publishes an online industry magazine and 3 (run)robotics trade shows. He said there are other snake-like to-brass being developed, 4 (main)at universities, but didn’t know of one that could climb pipes.
The Carnegie Mellon machines are 5 (design)to carry cameras and electronic sensors and can be controlled with a joystick(操纵杆). They move smoothly with the help of small electric motors, or servos, 6 (common)used by hobbyists in model airplanes.
Built lightweight materials, the robots are about the size of a human arm or 7 (small). They can sense which way is up, but are only as good as their human operators, Choset added.
Sam Stover, a search term manager with the Federal Emergency Management Agency based in Indiana, said snake-type robots would offer 8 (great) mobility than equipment currently available, such as cameras attached to extendable roles.
"It just allows us to do something we’ve not been able to do before," Stover said, "We needed them yesterday."
He said sniffer dogs are still the best search tool for rescue workers, but that they can only be used 9 (effective) when workers have access to damaged building.
Stover, among the rescue workers who handled the aftermath(后果)of Hurricane Katrina, said snake robots would have helped rescuers search 10 (flood)houses in that disaster.
Choset said the robots may not be ready for. use for another five to ten years, depending on funding. Snake-Like Robots