REVIEW OF SNAKE ROBOTS IN CONSTRAINED

ENVIRONMENT

SEMINAR REPORT

Submitted by

KAMIL MOHAMMED T K
AWH19ME017

To

The APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University

In partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree

Of

Bachelor of Technology

In

Mechanical Engineering

Department of Mechanical Engineering

AWH Engineering College
Kuttikkattoor

December 2022
 AWH ENGINEERING COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
KOZHIKODE

CERTIFICATE
This is certified that the report entitled “REVIEW OF SNAKE ROBOTS IN

CONSTRAINED ENVIRONMENT” submitted by KAMIL MOHAMMED T K

(AWH19ME017) to APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University in partial fulfilment of the

requirement for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical

Engineering is a bonafide record of the seminar work carried out by here under us guidance

and supervision. This report in any form has not been submitted to any other University or

Institution for any purpose.

Guide Head of the Department

Mr. Safeer M Dr. SREERAM D

Assistant professor Associate professor

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and the foremost, I shall thank God Almighty who gave me the inner strength, resource

and ability to complete the work successfully, without which all my efforts would have been

in vain.

I am deeply indebted to me guide Mr. Safeer M,, Department of Mechanical Engineering for

his excellent guidance, positive criticism and valuable comments. I am thankful to Mr.

Safeer M, Seminar coordinator, Department of Mechanical Engineering for his time and

energy. I am greatly thankful to Dr. Sabeena M V, principal, AWH Engineering College for

her support and co-operation. I am thankful to Dr. Sreeram D, Head of the Department for

his valuable advice and motivation.

Finally, I think my parents and friends near and dear ones who directly and indirectly

contributed to the successful completion of my seminar.

KAMIL MOHAMMED T K
 ABSTRACT

Snake robots have advantages of terrain adaptability over wheeled mobile robots and

traditional articulated robot arms because of their limbless thin body structure and

high flexibility. They have extensive applications in tasks such as rescue, disaster

recovery, inspection and minimally invasive surgery. Current research on snake

robots is mainly focused on snake-like locomotion and the embodiment of these

motion gaits for different applications. Modular structure and real-time control

algorithms are two key aspects for snake robots operating in constrained environments.

This review will attempt to address both. First, a review on the snake motion and

the body structure is provided, which outlines the biological foundation of all snake

robots. This is followed by the mechanical structure of snake robots, especially the

structure of elemental snake modules. Finally, control algorithms for variant terrain

contours and obstacle avoidance are discussed. The review also outlines emerging

application areas and potential future directions of snake robots.

 CONTENTS
No: Title Page no
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i

ABSTRACT ii

LIST OF FIGURES iii

•
LIST OF TABLES

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Advantages
1.2 Disadvantages
1.3 Classification Methodology
Chapter 2 SNAKE MOTION AND BODY STRUCTURE
2.1 Locomotion gaits of snakes
2.2 Lateral undulation
2.3 Concertina
2.4 Crotaline/sidewinding
Chapter 3 MECHANICAL DESIGN OF SNAKE ROBOT
Chapter 4 TERRAIN ADAPTIVE CONTROL ALGORITHMS
Chapter 5 APPLICATIONS OF SNAKE ROBOT
Chapter 6 FUTURE DEVELOPMENT TRENDS AND CHALLENGES
Chapter 7 CONCLUSION

REFERENCES
 LIST OF FIGURES

No Title Page no
1 . 1. Classification methods of snake robots.

2.1 (a) Lateral undulation (b) concertina gait (c) –

Sidewinding gait (d) Rectilinear gait (above)-

and tracks (bottom)

2.2. (a) The skeleton of a snake [48]. (b) The skin of a snakes-

is completely covered by scales [48]. (c) Dynamic load -

distribution of snakes during lateral fluctuations

2.3 Snake robot examples for whole body structure-

classification. (a) ACM-R3 (b) Modsnake (c) OmniTread-

OT-4 (d) Slim Slime robo

3.1 Representative snake robots. (a) ACM-R5 robot (b) –

OmniTread OT-8 robot (c) GreaseFire robot

4.1 (a) Adaptive control architecture [43]. (b) Adaptive-

control architecture using policy gradient reinforcement-

learning

5.1 (a) The applications of snake robot [48,269]. –

(b) How to use snake robots to check scaffolding structures

and piers in hazardous situations