Amphibious Robot Snake (Video)
June 23, 2008 
16 Comments
ACM-R5 is the name of this awesome, and quite scary, amphibious robot snake – developed by the people at the Hirose Fukushima Lab in Japan.
ACM-R5 is equipped with paddles and passive wheels around the body. To generate propulsive force by undulation, the robot need a resistance property as it glides freely in tangential direction but cannot in normal direction. Due to the paddles and passive wheels, ACM-R5 obtains that character both in water and on ground.
Here’s a video demonstration of the robot snake in the water:
The control system of ACM-R5 is an advanced one. Each joint unit has CPU, battery, motors, so they can operate independently. Through communication lines each unit exchanges signals and automatically recognizes its number from the head, and how many units join the system. Thanks to this system operators can remove, add, and exchange units freely and they can operate ACM-R5 flexibly according to situations.
Read more about the ACM-R5 robot snake over at Hirose Fukushima Lab.
(Via Geekologie)
This is REALLY cool. They were really smart to build it so that each piece of the snake completely independent. Also making it so that they know exactly how many pieces they are away from the head. makes it easier to repair and make longer at anytime. I was just trying to think of what this device could be used for in the real world. I’m not really sure what though? Anyone have any ideas?
awesome. Firefighter, it’s good for S+R missions, or intel gathering. can also carry explosives.
imagine that thing swimming up next to you, sci-fi freaky :D
Ahhh man, the video doesn’t work anymore :( Know of another place where it can be seen in action? Thanks!
-Rich
What happened to the video, can’t view it anymore.