Serpent learning to help out in a disaster

Pinwei Jin hopes his robot can be used in search and rescue.

An engineering student has designed and built a remote-control robotic snake which he hopes can be used for search and rescue missions.

Pinwei Jin's Snake Robot prototype has a wireless camera on its head, eight joints, 16 motors and nine wheels. The machine, which can move in any direction, is controlled by a wireless joy-stick.

"It can fit in tight places and can go inside damaged buildings, making it great for rescue operations," Mr Jin said.

Pinwei Jin's Snake Robot prototype.

"Earthquakes and other natural disasters happen frequently in New Zealand and when it comes to the big ones, many lives could be saved if search and rescue operations were conducted more effectively and efficiently."

He is still developing the robot and hopes it will eventually be able to move like a caterpillar, manoeuvring over rubble and debris with ease.

"In the second stage we plan to make the robot able to move over rough surfaces."

Mr Jin is completing a Master of Engineering at Waikato University. The 23-year-old's project has been funded solely by the university.

"I chose this assignment as I believed it would be the best way I could show everything I have learned through my study."

He said the robot snake's flexibility made it more effective than conventional rescue robots already in the market place. He said the future development of the robot would carry on without him as this was his last year of study.

Snake Robot
*8 joints
*16 motors
*9 wheels
*Moves 16 degrees
*Remote controlled

Designed and built by Waikato student Pinwei Jin