Distinguished Lecture Series, IEEE Controls Systems Society, Bangalore Chapter

Date and Time: Sept 14th, 7:00-8:15 pm (IST);

Meeting Details will be announced shortly.

Speaker: Prof. Kristin Y. Pettersen (https://www.ntnu.edu/employees/kristin.y.pettersen),
Department of Engineering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Title: Snake robots – bioinspiration gives efficient robots for ocean exploration

Abstract:

Snake robots are motivated by the long, slender and flexible body of biological snakes, which allows them to move in virtually any environment on land and in water. Since the snake robot is essentially a manipulator arm that can move by itself, it has a number of interesting applications including firefighting applications and search and rescue operations. In water, the robot is a highly flexible and dexterous manipulator arm that can swim by itself like an eel. This highly flexible snake-like mechanism has excellent accessibility properties; it can for instance access virtually any location on a subsea oil & gas installation, move into the confined spaces of ship wrecks, or be used for observation of biological systems. Furthermore, not only can the swimming manipulator access narrow openings and confined spaces, but it can also carry out highly complex manipulation tasks at this location since manipulation is an inherent capability of the system. By incorporating the propulsion system and the manipulation capabilities in the same mechanical structure, this vehicle becomes highly compact and is able to bring inspection and intervention capabilities to subsea locations where ROVs today cannot operate.

In this talk, I will present the inspiration from biological snakes, and recent research results on snake robots. Finally, I will show how the bioinspiration has given efficient robots for ocean exploration.

Please also encourage your colleagues who may be non-IEEE members to also participate.