Snake robots have been studied for decades with the aim of achieving biological snakes' fluent locomotion. Yet, as of today, their locomotion remains far from that of the biological snakes. Our recent study suggested that snake locomotion utilizing partial ground contacts can be achieved with robots by using body compliance and lengthwise-globally applied body tensions. In this paper, we present the first hardware implementation of this locomotion principle. Our snake robot comprises serial tendon-driven continuum sections and is bent and twisted globally using tendons. We demonstrate how the tendons are actuated to achieve the ground contacts for forward and backward locomotion and sidewinding. The robot's capability to generate snake locomotion in various directions and its steerability were validated in a series of indoor experiments.

翻译：蛇形机器人的研究已持续数十年，旨在实现生物蛇类的流畅运动。然而迄今为止，其运动能力仍远未达到生物蛇的水平。我们近期的研究表明，通过利用机体柔顺性和沿体长方向全局施加的体张力，机器人能够实现利用部分地面接触的蛇形运动。本文首次提出了基于该运动原理的硬件实现方案。所研制的蛇形机器人由串联式腱驱动连续体节段构成，通过肌腱实现全局弯曲与扭转。我们展示了如何驱动肌腱以建立地面接触，从而实现前进、后退及侧向蜿蜒运动。通过一系列室内实验，验证了该机器人在多方向生成蛇形运动的能力及其可操控性。