Snake-bot Gives Us The Mechanical Heevy-jeevies

Basilisk? Nope, just your run-of-the-mill giant serpentine robot build. This build aims to recreate Titanoboa, a prehistoric snake which measured more than fifty feet long and weighted over a ton. They’re well on their way to completing the goal, as what you see above is fully operational, lacking only cosmetic niceties which would only serve to make the beast less horrifying.

The video after the shows the snake getting round an open space, presumably at the eatArt headquarters in Vancouver. You may remember the team from one of their other builds also featured in that clip, the Mondo Spider. Eventually, the snake will have a rider just like the spider does, sitting in a saddle mounted just behind the head. There’s few details about the hardware, but we know it’s hydraulic, and that they raised $10k to make the build possible.

For some reason seeing these bots interact gives us flashbacks to childhood cartoons. Is it possible the eatArt crew has been watching too many old G.I. Joe cartoons and the like?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocyhbij9JYQ&w=470]

30 thoughts on “Snake-bot Gives Us The Mechanical Heevy-jeevies

      1. Realistic snake movement would be pretty difficult to replicate. Snakes also adapt their movement according to terrain so they use the least amount of energy possible, though they probably wouldn’t implement it to that extent. Very interesting animals snakes are.

  1. LOL when I heard the popping noise I thought the poor old snake has arthritis real bad,until I seen what was making the noise anyway. I wonder if they will get $10K worth of discovery out of it? In the means time I guess I better sharpen my shovel so it can severe hydraulic lines.

  2. The “rollers” on the bottom of Titanoboa are not powered. The motion of the snake propels it forward.

    The Mondo Spider requires slip at the shoes in order to be able to turn and to prevent the legs from fighting each other.

    The creation with the giant wheel in the background is called “Daisy the Solar Powered Tricycle”.

  3. Not that it matters… but your usage of “heevy-jeevies” is flawed… …swap the v’s for b’s.

    Heebie-jeebies or heebie jeebies is an American English idiom used to describe depression or anxiety. This can be as an after-effect of excessive alcohol intake (see Delirium tremens) or to describe a particular type of anxiety usually related to a certain person or place. For example, "He gives me the heebie jeebies", meaning "He makes me uncomfortably nervous". It can also refer to a particular form of intense apprehension, verging on horror, that is associated with opiate withdrawal.
  4. Not that it matters… but your usage of “heevy-jeevies” is flawed… …swap the v’s for b’s.

    Heebie-jeebies or heebie jeebies is an American English idiom used to 
    describe depression or anxiety. This can be as an after-effect of 
    excessive alcohol intake (see Delirium tremens) or to describe 
    a particular type of anxiety usually related to a certain person 
    or place. For example, "He gives me the heebie jeebies", meaning 
    "He makes me uncomfortably nervous". It can also refer to a 
    particular form of intense apprehension, verging on horror, that is 
    associated with opiate withdrawal.
  5. The Spice Must Flow!

    OTOH, wait till DARPA gets hold of this.
    One ACME robot snake with extra animatronics + thermal infrared + some seismic sensors + AI + laser ionisation based stun field and you can have your very own “Mongolian Death Worm”. :-)

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