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Snake-Like Rescue Robot Will Scare the Sh*t Out Of You, Then Pull You From the Rubble
Posted by John Mahoney at 11:00 PM on August 16, 2008
If I was trapped in a pile of earthquake rubble, I'd do just about anything to get the hell out as soon as possible. But if this cilia-covered rescue snakebot squirmed it's way up my leg, I think the chances of heart failure might need to be factored in. It's called the Active Scope Camera, and it was conceived by researchers at Japan's Tohoku University, all of whom are clearly fans of War of the Worlds. It's a fibre-optic camera wrapped in a layer of tiny cilia bristles, which allow for millipede-like locomotion that's creepy, creepy, creepy in this video.
With a length of 8 metres, it can dive in with its fibre cam where rescue dogs can't, leading the way for human rescuers. Look for it slinking around in rubble piles next year. [Nikkei and Tohoku University via Crunchgear]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity
Posted 11:45 PM 16/8/08
Snake-Like Rescue Robot Will Scare the Sh*t Out Of You, Then Pull You From the Rubble, Then Check You For Polyps.
Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity
hu_hu_cool
Posted 11:27 PM 16/8/08
It looks slow... u might be dead before it gets to u.
hu_hu_cool
OMG! Ponies!
Posted 11:23 PM 16/8/08
Meh. It could be worse. They could send in spider robots to eye-scan you. Or squid robots to carve you to pieces with welding torches.
OMG! Ponies!
ara
Posted 11:10 PM 16/8/08
@Dice: Wire might be better here, you can always pull it out of the holes from the wire, would hate to wait it crawl it's way back out once it hits dead end.
ara
TheWTOisGOD
Posted 11:08 PM 16/8/08
It looks like the tube they use for stomach pumping...or colonoscopies.
I can only imagine how many do-it-yourself attempts will be made with this thing.
TheWTOisGOD
Dice
Posted 11:06 PM 16/8/08
awesome, i cant wait for the wireless version. *.*
Dice
Dice
Posted 12:07 AM 17/8/08
@ara: ohhh good point
Dice
Mandatory_Field
Posted 12:05 AM 17/8/08
"Man arrested for using Snake Cam to take upskirt photos on the Tokyo subway. Film at 11:00"....
Mandatory_Field
tamoko
Posted 11:58 PM 16/8/08
The tentacle sex crowd is going to love this...time to make a live action Legend of the OverFiend.
tamoko
scrag
Posted 11:55 PM 16/8/08
It doesn't look strong enough to slither "up" things though. Rubble is a 3D maze and this looks like it can either travel across flat surfaces or be guided with gravity down. If there's a step in front of it and people in a hole behind that step, how will it get up it?
scrag
hypereric
Posted 12:45 AM 17/8/08
i'd love to have one of these just snaking around my apartment. let is just start from under the couch when you have guests there and act like nothing is going on...
of course, my cats would make mincemeat ... err, mince-electronic-doodads out of it in milliseconds. and then turn to me and give me a cute meow, which babelfish translates as, "ANOTHER FRICKIN ELECTRONIC TOY?!?!? GET US SOMETHING TO KILL THAT WILL HAVE REAL TERROR UNTIL ITS' PUNY DEATH, B1TCH!"
hypereric
gregivq
Posted 1:03 AM 17/8/08
Let me know how much shipped to 60126....now I need amazon to ship me 40 gallons of lube...
gregivq
BiZarRroBALlmeR
Posted 2:11 AM 17/8/08
It looks like it ate a couple of mice.
BiZarRroBALlmeR
robpruitt
Posted 2:56 AM 17/8/08
The guy in the picture seems quite proud of his..snake.
robpruitt
jkr's bold comment
Posted 2:54 AM 17/8/08
What the article failed to mention was how it rescues you. It is very much like a snake. It swallows you whole and baths you in digestive fluids to "protect" you. 3 days later it slithers out of the rubble and deposits you in a convenient carry bag. Currently, 125 people have been "rescued" by these devices. Near the end of this year, the military plans on putting these into full production. Coincidentally, the manufacturing plant is located near our nations primary data infrastructure code named "Skynet". Let the revolution begin. I for one am calling batman.
[bbsimg.ngfiles.com]
Anybody know how to post pics?
jkr's bold comment
Aqualero
Posted 2:44 AM 17/8/08
Japan's perverts have just wet themselves with what seems to be the ultimate upskirt camera. Looks like we're one step closer to live-action tentacle porn.
Aqualero
wookiepeasent
Posted 3:09 AM 17/8/08
i think it would work better in a rubble area, because the snake could wind around things and propell itself faster. because its an a slick floor it cant get very much traction causing it to go slow.
wookiepeasent
FrankenPC
Posted 3:44 AM 17/8/08
Talk about doing the tube snake boogie...
FrankenPC
Mith
Posted 5:17 AM 17/8/08
@tamoko:
href="#c7263087">Aqualero:
Words right out of my mouth..
Oh.. it'll SAVE you alright.. now that your in a position where you can do nothing about it@
Mith
nuggetz
Posted 4:51 AM 17/8/08
I recall seeing one of those in my grandpa's pants.
nuggetz
Purple Dave
Posted 4:34 AM 17/8/08
@Mandatory_Field:
Heh. I was thinking something similar when I saw some woman's feet in heels and not-pants, apparently calmly looking down at a camera that was slithering across the floor. It reminded me of that episode of The Big Bang Theory when the geeks had a bunch of internet-operable RC cars equipped with mini-webcams and Penny stopped by while wearing a miniskirt.
Purple Dave
srw
Posted 7:28 AM 17/8/08
It would be great for cave exploration.
srw
Mith
Posted 10:55 AM 17/8/08
@srw:
Japanese tentacle enthusiast says: "Depends on the "type" of cave you are talking about!"
AAAArigato Gozimasu!!!
Mith
jtwaverly
Posted 2:48 PM 17/8/08
It looks like it would be great for looking up shirts in an office lobby that had marble floors. I'm not convinced that thing could move on carpet. If it's designed for rescuing people in rubble, it should probably be demoed in rubble.
jtwaverly
Purple Dave
Posted 4:02 PM 17/8/08
@jtwaverly:
Yes, absolutely! Blow up the R&D department, and see if this thing works well enough to save the inventors!
"Must saves the masters! Ooh...tight corner...can't move... Ouch."
Purple Dave
Amiash is walking (again)
Posted 6:29 AM 18/8/08
I would be dead if i saw that thing crawling towards me..
oh well, it could be somethnig worst than that...
Amiash is walking (again)
tamoko
Posted 9:25 AM 18/8/08
@srw: Yeah , I was thinking that too> I go caving occasionally, and this would be perfect for exploring rock falls and narrow openings that might lead to promising chambers.
tamoko
ConstanceCanace
Posted 12:54 AM 17/8/08
And then the woman shrieks and the guy picks up an ax and with three chops he chops off the head and they take it to their lab... oh wait.. that was war of the worlds.
ConstanceCanace