Snakelike Robots Would Maneuver in Tight Spaces

Robots with multiple-link arms that could reach through narrow openings into hidden cavities are undergoing development. Called "multifunction dexterous boro-robots" (MDBRs), these robots would resemble snakes (see Figure 1), in both general appearance and in the slithering motion with which they would negotiate narrow passages. Robots like these could make it possible to inspect, maintain, and repair critical parts in the interiors of complex machines like aircraft engines, without having to take the machines apart and then putting them back together at great expense. Such robots could also prove useful as surgical endoscopic tools. In comparison with currently available borescopes and endoscopes, MDBRs would be more versatile, more controllable, and better able to maneuver around obstacles. The MDBRs would differ from the serpentine inspection robots reported previously in NASA Tech Briefs[see "Small, Lightweight Inspection Robot With 12 Degrees of Freedom" (NPO-19367) Vol. 20, No. 2 (February 1996), page 73 and "Control of a Serpentine Robot for Inspection Tasks" (NPO-19506) Vol. 20, No. 3 (March 1996), page 1b.]