Snake Robots With Lasers on Their Heads

Engineers at OC Robotics and TWI built a snakebot capable of welding damaged or deteriorated pipes from the inside. Plenty of snake-inspired bots already exist—surgical bots are a good example—but this model will be especially useful for hazardous or confined spaces or when repair from the outside would be otherwise too costly.   An operator guiding the snakebot can align the welding head and then let loose an industrial high-powered laser to do its thing. Once it’s finished, the robot creepily retracts back out of the pipe along its original path.