A new snakebot proves that climbing ladders won’t save you from killer robotsOctober 15, 2018
If you thought you could leave a killer robot behind by climbing to higher ground, it turns out, the robot might soon be able to climb right up beside you. Kyoto University teamed up with the University of Electro-Communications in Japan to build a robot snake that can contort its body repeatedly in order to reach the top of a ladder.
The researchers unveiled the terrifying robosnake at an annual international conference on intelligent robots this month. So far, it only knows how to climb up a ladder in a grotesque yet mesmerizing fashion.
The report on the robot snake doesn’t specify any uses for it, but imagine using it to help you climb a ladder (then running away from it in fear as its mechanical jaws snap at you). Currently, the model presented by the researchers looks a lot like an unfurled colon or a long extension of Edward Elric’s automail arm from the anime and manga franchise Full Metal Alchemist.
Check out the video to see the robot creepily moving up a ladder. At the end of the video, it almost looks like it’s caught in the ladder, but after multiple attempts, it successfully makes it out untangled.