Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has created a new robot that has six legs, looks creepily like a spider when it walks, and is dubbed “Snake Monster”. Not exactly endearing traits, but the Snake Monster isn’t designed to win any popularity contests. It has been created as an easily reconfigurable platform using a modular system architecture that may be easily programmed to govern robots with a varied array of configurations.
Designed and created in around six months in the lab of Howie Choset, a professor in CMU’s Robotics Institute, Snake Monster is claimed to be the precursor to a range of robots intended to be built using a modular system. Current work being carried out on various other modules in the lab include force-sensing feet, wheels and tank-style treads that will allow users to modify the base structure into a selection of totally different robots suited to a range of tasks.
via Gizmag
Image: CMU Robotics Institute
