The snake contains 20 water hydraulic motors that move the robotic joints — and a similar number of valves to control the water flow to each motor. Each module consists of two hydraulic motors and two valves. The outer layer is comprised of a strong steel skeleton containing the joint modules,which can rotate around two orthogonal axes. The joints are controlled by custom-built electronics.
SF writers love the robot snake concept; I've found a reference as early as 1946. Emmett McDowell referred to a mechanical mining worm in his short story Love Among the Robots.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/3/2008)
Pole-Dancing Stripperbot Robot
'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...' - Jerome K. Jerome, 1893.
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Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'