People Tech

Building robots that slither

By Roberta Kwok

- More than 2 years ago

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Howie Choset is a roboticist, but his team’s creations bear little resemblance to C-3PO or R2-D2. Instead, Choset finds inspiration in nature — specifically, snakes.

Howie Choset is building a new generation of snakelike robots that can climb trees and perform other serpentine feats. Courtesy of H. Choset

“A lot of people have this notion that robots are modeled after people,” says Choset, of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.