August 17, 2006 8:18 AM PDT
The idea behind the robot snake is to equip a fire hose with water hydraulic valves and actuators that make it capable of moving forward like a biological snake. However, plain water contains corrosive and poor lubricating properties--making it a challenge to build miniature hyrdraulic components to work over an extended period, says Pal Liljeback, Sintef spokesman for the Snakefighter Project. Therefore, engineers are custom-building small water hydraulic valves that are used to move each joint in the snake robot.
Photo by Sintef
