Ok, it all started with a random Google search. I get funny ideas in my head and so I look them up to see what other demented minds have come up with along the same lines.
Today, it was "snakebot". :huh:
Apparently technology was already there, and they've done some pretty cool things.
I'm not afraid of snakes, but robot snakes?!?...
*shudder*
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakebot):
----------------
A snakebot is a biomorphic hyper-redundant robot that resembles a snake.
Snake robots come in all shapes and sizes, from the three meters long, fire fighting snakebot developed by SINTEF[1], to a medical snakebot developed at Carnegie Mellon University that is thin enough to maneuver around organs inside a human chest cavity. Though snakebots can vary greatly in size and design, there are two qualities that all snakebots share. First, their small cross section to length ratio allows them to move into, and maneuver through, tight spaces. Second, their ability to change the shape of their body allows them to perform a wide range of behaviours, such as climbing stairs or tree trunks.
http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2008/03/snake-bot-round.html
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
(http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2008/03/snake-bot-round.html)
More stuff here: http://www.google.com/search?q=snakebot
...and I couldn't resist expressing the dismay of no doubt countless automatophidiophobes out there:
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
;D