(Robotics) Snake-Arm Robot

Snake-arm robots are going places they had never been be-
fore, thanks to OCRobotics and KUKA Roboter.
The OCRobotics snake-arm robot has just reached the first
major milestone for assembly and inspection tasks within
aircraft wings.

OCRobotics has completed build and initial testing of a demon-
stration snake-arm robot capable of sealing, swaging and
inspection inside a mock-up of a rib bay.
The aerospace industry has been slow to use robotics on ass-
embly lines; tasks within rib bays and other confined spaces inside
aircraft structures have remained practically impossible, until now.
Snake-arm robots do not have prominent ‘elbows’.
They have a continuous curving shape – like a snake.
This means that they are ideal for applications in confined spaces
and can reach lots of awkward places.

In a new configuration, the OCRobotics snake-arm robot is
attached to the KUKA industrial robot, which uses the snake-arm
robot as a tool. It is a flexible extension to the industrial robot.
Initial tests show the arm is flexible enough to deliver the required
tools to areas of the wing box that were previously inaccessible
to automation.



SOURCE:
TechNovelgy.com

This is a very cool robot, the bendability of its arm definately
makes it useful in other industries as well.

I'm all for putting robotics into places they currently are'nt,
atleast without getting rid of to many human jobs.


Comments, Opinions?

[edit on 11/7/2006 by iori_komei]

I am all for it aswell.
Most who know me on here know me as that robotics engineering guy.
Now, I haven't had much of a chance to work with snake robots, but from what I can tell of them they are a definite advancement in allowing robots to do what humans simply cannot.

This of course (for those who are worried) will not put people out of a job. This robot is designed to get into areas, the human arm simply could never get... hence, it wouldnt have been a human job to begin with.

Another advantage to the snake system is rescue purposes. Humans would have to dig through tonnes of rubble to find one person, with the risk that their digging would kill the person, as they don't know exactly where they are to begin with.

A snake arm can use a camera to locate the exact position of a person before digging commences, and show where the rubble is, so the rescue team can make an informed decision on where to dig, rather than just starting to dig.