First a robotic hand (refer to AI 126) and now a robotic arm. This one comes from
OC Robotics and delivers 1/2" diameter snake-arm robot.
The arm is the smallest snake-arm robot to date and uncoils out of a briefcase-sized box where it is stowed.
The arm is 24" (610mm) in length, with longer arms under development, and was designed for the US Department of Defense who needed a way of inspecting and working inside confined or cluttered spaces - a capability not previously available.
Snake-arm robots are flexible robotic arms that don't have 'elbows', so they can 'follow their nose' into confined spaces.
Snake-arm robots are flexible and compliant, like endoscopes, but they are fully controllable like a robot and can be precisely positioned.
With a snake-arm robot the operator needs only to drive the tip of the arm around obstacles using a tip-mounted camera and the software will control the rest of the arm to follow where the tip has been.
