Snake-Like Mobile Robots

Biological snakes’ diverse locomotion modes and physiology make them supremely adapted for environment. When their unique movements are broadly classified, the following four gliding modes exist: 1) Serpentine locomotion; 2) Rectilinear locomotion; 3) Concertina locomotion; 4) Side winding locomotion. However, the serpentine locomotion is the movement seen typically in almost all kinds of snakes, its characteristic is that each part of the body leaves similar tracks. All above indicate that snakes’ locomotion is a kind of rhythmic locomotion, they are the perfect combinations of simplicity and practicality. Thus, the control method of imitating snakes’ rhythm locomotion is often adopted to actualize the locomotive function of a snakelike robot. Ma put forward the Serpentine curve which is more valid as the snake creeping locomotion shape than the previously suggested Clothoid spiral, the Serpenoid curve, and others.