(ORDO NEWS) — The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has introduced a snake-like self-propelled robot to support the “tunnel war”.
The Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) is designed to survey extreme landscapes that are inaccessible to tracked or wheeled platforms.
According to EELS principal investigator Masahiro Ono, the robot can navigate through water, sand, rock and ice.
The military may find EELS useful because “you never know what environment or mobility is optimal,” he said.
Once operational, the platform can be used to support surveillance and reconnaissance missions, especially in closed dynamic terrain.
The EELS consists of several identical segments linked together in a “sidewound moving snake” design. The robot is driven by motor mechanisms and supported by communication lines to increase productivity.
The technology was demonstrated during a conference in the US state of Maryland on the Atlantic coast, where the EELS slipped through ice-covered tunnels and out into the ocean.
NASA plans to subject the EELS robot to more extensive laboratory and field testing, including in caves used in so-called tunnel wars. What exactly is the conduct of hostilities in the thickness of the rocks, is not explained.
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