Overview
The best-known family of research snake robots, from Howie Choset's Biorobotics Lab. The modules can climb poles, crawl through the insides and outsides of pipe networks, and roll over rubble. The series-elastic SEA Snake adds compliant control for unstructured terrain. In September 2017 a 16-module, 2-inch snake with a head camera was taken to a collapsed apartment building in Mexico City with the Mexican Red Cross. It made two passes through the rubble but found no survivors. The lab's modular actuator work later fed into HEBI Robotics, a spin-off founded by Choset and former lab members.
- Type
- Crawling robot · Snake robots
- Maker
- Biorobotics Lab, Carnegie Mellon University (USA)
- Released
- 2008
- Price
- Not for sale
- Status
- Not for sale (research)
- Best for
- Professionals & labs
- Programming
- No programmability
Price and shipping
Lab research platforms. Never offered for sale.
Shipping: Not for sale. Research platforms that were never sold. The lab occasionally deploys them with partners for inspection and rescue trials.
Specifications
| Category | Crawlers, snakes & climbers · Snake robots |
|---|---|
| Released | 2008 |
| Country | USA |
| Availability | Not for sale (research) |
| Programmability | No programmability |
| Built-in autonomy | None / scripted · Moves only when controlled, or plays preset motions |
| LLM support | None · No built-in LLM and no SDK to connect one. |
| Best for | Professionals & labs |
| Vision sensors | Camera |
| Actuators | Unknown |
| Audio | No audio |
| Compute type | Laptop / PC as the brain |
| Remote control | Not programmable |
| Size | ~94 cm long, 5 cm (2 in) diameter for the 16-module snake deployed in Mexico City |
| Locomotion | Chain of identical joint modules (lateral undulation, sidewinding, rolling, pole and pipe climbing) |
| Compute | Per-module electronics, off-board operator control (details not published) |
| Camera | Video camera with LED lights in the head module |
| Sensors | Not published per module (SEA Snake adds series-elastic torque sensing) |
| Runtime | Tethered power and control |
| Speed | Not published |
| SDK | None public (lab software) |
Common questions
How much does CMU Modular Snake Robots cost?
Not for sale. Lab research platforms. Never offered for sale.
Can CMU Modular Snake Robots be bought today?
No. It was never sold to the public.
Who makes CMU Modular Snake Robots?
CMU Modular Snake Robots is made by Biorobotics Lab, Carnegie Mellon University (USA). It came out in 2008.
Can CMU Modular Snake Robots be programmed?
No programmability. None public (lab software).
Does CMU Modular Snake Robots have AI chat or LLM support?
None. No built-in LLM and no SDK to connect one.
Ratings & reviews
Ratings and reviews load on the live site.
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