Make a swimming Robo-Snake

Sneel is the name of my snake / eel swimming robot. This is documentation of hardware, software and mechanical design of  Sneel_003.  

urethane flex tubing, microcontrollers, Zigbee wireless radio, hose clamps, wires, servo motors, titanium servo brackets, silicon, marine grease, epoxy, pond pump

Sneel is a swimming robotic water-snake, constructed to explore lifelike, sinuous motion in an aquatic robot. It is designed to navigate unknown territory and extreme terrain.

Sneel is inspired by Protei, (protei.org), an international project for the design of a fleet of open source, robotic, unmanned sailboats. Sneel is a development of Protei_007.

Sneel_003 swimming in San Francisco, California, Spreckles Lake, Golden Gate Park:

Sneel is an open-source, biomimetic, locomotive, aquatic robot. The electromechanical design of Sneel mimics the structure and motion of a real water snake, as a test to explore swimming behavior in an undulating linear robot. The inspiration for Sneel originates from a fascination with reptilian forms of motility and the implications of modelling hardware from biological structures and functions. Sneel uses a custom-written software library to propagate an oscillating wave down a line of servo motors that comprise the robot’s body. The current model is a platform for the development of other low-cost snake drones, with semi-autonomous navigational control for waypoint following, and sensing capabilities for obstacle avoidance. Worldwide applications for Sneel include remote marine data collection of salinity / toxicity levels, nuclear level monitoring, pipeline or underwater exploration, fishery monitoring, and oil-collection.

Sneel version 2 swimming like a real snake:


Sneel version 2, first swim in central park:

 

Step 1: Bill of Materials

Mechanical hardware:
5x Lynxmotion servo brackets
5x Lynxmotion C-brackets
5x injection molded servo hinge
urethane dust collection tube, 5' x 2.5"
convoluted hose clamp
5/16" tubing
5/16" hose clamp
2x shop vac 2.5 to 1.25" vacuum reducer
5x servo bracketshttp://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/bracket-for-rb421-servo-p-939.html?cPath=0
urethane sealant
marine grease
marine epoxy sealant
o rings
carbon fiber 3x (1/32", 1"x12" strips)
rubber about 1/8" thick, 2"x10" at least, like this neoprene works well
loctite (green)
nylon string as a tether
optional: 
inner tube or valve for positive pressurizing with a bike pump
silica gel packs


electronics:
10 Servo motors (I recommend these Hitec ones with Karbonite gears but these are a bit pricy. Whatever you get, the nylon gears will ear out quickly so I warn against them)
3 6V NiMh battery packs
Arduino UNO
1 seeeduino mega
Xbee explorer
2x xbee series 1
xbee wireless shield
servo motor shield
servo extension wire
xbee breakout + 2 rows of 10 male header pins + 2 rows of xbee 2mm female headers


supplies:
wires
needlenose pliers
angle snips
wire strippers
small screwdriver
4-40 screws, lock or toothed nuts, and bolts
2-56 screws, lock or toothed nuts, and bolts
solder iron + solder
hack saw
drill or drill press
3 mm drill bit
optional: 
dremel

Comments

[tkovar13]

they stopped making the red brackets for anyone know if this is a good alternative? http://www.engagerc.com/servlet/the-2619/2-dsh-DOF-pan-and-tilt/Detail

[avan diepen]

electronics are around 400$

[roopan raj]

tell me the overall price....

[andrea biffi]

wow, that's great!!

[alij28]

is it possible to make it go under the water?

[lafnbear]

OK, watch for a sudden up-tick in Loch Ness monster-like sightings!

[DIY-Guy]

Congrats on publishing a conceptual foundation for future inventors!
Swimming snakebots could be useful as unattended pool monitors, alerting adults if a child falls in. Every second counts in a rescue.

Imagine the lifesaving applications of this kind of monitoring bot.
Residential swimming pools.
Clubhouse pools.
City recreation center pools.
Lake and pond swimming areas.
Boat dock areas.

[akbar8]

افرین خیلی عالیه بود

[-chase-]

That's pretty cool!

My immediate thought of wondering  is if I make a dozen or so of these,add a tail fin and harness them all up - would they pull my raft around the lake like a Medusa hair driven water sled....hmmm,  have to ponder that some more..

[MakingWorld]

It feast my eyes.How do you prevent the ingress of water?

[sparten11]

all you need now is the ability to dive... perhaps if you use gravity to cause the swimming motion my diving and surfacing you could also add longevity to the swim time.

just a thought good job keep up the good work.

[Kavian Darkain]

....Not to mention the militaristic applications for this "Robo Snake".

[JayGeeBSE]

If you want to detect people falling in pools then an alarm detecting waves might be a lot simpler and more effective. Love the snake as a toy though, with possible applications where a propellor might get caught in weed.

[cheddar.alan]

Wonderful device, but please explain the pump. Why? When?

[Quester55]

Just one more Idea that works for me, Try to find some DIP IT , A Liquid Plastic that Air Drys for a Tight, Water proof Covering, That can be Removed Cleanly when needed. Also, Liquid Tape for those Mother boards and connectors. When done you'll save yourself about 4 to 12 OZ, on overall weight.
That's all, Like I said before, Your's is a great snake, Keep on Learning!
P/S, Remember this; " Good, Better, Best, Never let them rest, until your Good is Better & your Better is Best !

[Quester55]

F.Y.I., Sea Grease is fine, on Big Boats, But not small models, Try Mixing the best of two worlds by Combining 1/4 cup Sea Grease and 2 Liquid Oz. of Slick 50 Motor oil, Put in a mini blender, set to combine and walk away for about 5 min. when time is up, it will be warm, cool it down to room temp and apply to all joints that move.
I did this on some of my Boats and Subs and got around an 8% better RPM on my engines. It wasn't bothered by the Water temp at all.

[Quester55]

Have you considered adding Solar cells and wireless color mini cameras to the snake? Allowing power to be provided from the solar cells. the same for Neon Wire, for those night time bits of fun. Another power type could be" 3V. Lithium battery's ", Stacked in groups of 4, and Charged by Solar Cells, When resting.
Very cool snake.

[Kinnishian]

Yes!!!


This awesome.

[ride on toy dude]

how much did it cost you?

[rimar2000]

Nice beast!

[amandaghassaei]

this looks great! I'd love to see it in action!

[cesar harada]

SOOOO AWWWESOME !!!!