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The snake automaton phase factor has existed for decade . In addition to the diversity it adds to the world of automation , the design has several pragmatic attributes . The first is redundancy , which appropriate for the system to keep chug even after a module is damage . The second is a body that make it potential for the snakelike system to navigate tight space .
The latter has made snake in the grass robots a compelling summation to search - and - deliverance teams , as the system can squeeze into spots masses and other golem ca n’t . Other applications let in plumbing and even medical , with scale down versions that can move around pipe and human organ , respectively . NASA JPL ( Jet Propulsion Laboratory ) , never one to shy aside from futuristic robotlike coating , has been explore ways the robust form component could be deploy to scout out extraterrestrial life .
As is so often the case with these sort of stories , we ’re still in the very early stages . Testing is presently being conducted on terrestrial landscapes designed to mimic what such systems could receive after slipping the surly bond of this pallid blue marble . That means a lot of ice , as NASA researchers are plan to station it to Saturn ’s small , cold moon , Enceladus .
Twenty - first - century flybys from Cassini have discover a water - rich environment , making the frosting - covered moon a potential prospect for life in our solar system . The eventual plan is to use the snake automaton , Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor ( EELS ) , to explore oceans beneath the moon ’s crust and finally answer one of the universe ’s giving , undefended question .
“ It is design to be adaptable to traverse ocean world – inspired terrain , fluidized sensitive , put in labyrinthian environments , and liquid , ” the team behind the inquiry writes inan articlepublished in this months ’ Science Robotics . “ Enceladus is the main driver for the design of EELS computer hardware and package architecture , as well as its mobility and autonomous capacity . We have been using glacier as Earth analog water ice environment to develop and test its computer architecture as a stepping Harlan Fisk Stone toward Enceladus . ”
For the project , JPL has teamed up with Arizona State University ; the University of California , San Diego ; and Carnegie Mellon University , the latter of which has a longsighted account designing ophidian robots . In fact , CMU spinoutHEBI Roboticsdesigned the module being used in this former version of the system .
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“ On Enceladus , EELS could slither down narrow geyser on the airfoil and float through the vast , orbicular ocean , guess to be six stat mi deep at the south pole,”notes CMU . “ EELS is equipped with risk - aware provision , situational awareness , motility provision and proprioceptive ascendency to allow it to move autonomously far from Earth and the clench of human control . ”
According to NASA , the system weigh 100,000 gramme and measures in at 4.4 meters .
