TerminatorBot is a crawling robot with two arms that can also manipulate objects. It’s perfect for crawling around the wreckage of a disaster site but the limbs collapse into a cylindrical body that can be tossed or launched into specific locations, making the machine attractive for space applications or military use.
Soldiers will think, “I’m not going to launch a grenade, I’m going to launch a robot,” said Richard Voyles of the University of Minnesota, whose inspiration for the device came from a scene in “The Terminator” in which the cyborg’s dismembered torso crawls across the floor in a last-ditch effort to slay the hero.
The robot can swim on land using a breaststroke motion, scoot through passages as narrow as its body and bend its arm at the elbows and rotate its shoulder joint to roll its limbs forward.
Currently the TerminatorBot measures about 3 inches in diameter and 8 inches long, but Voyles has plans to make the device half as small so it can fit into a soda can-sized shell. He also envisions a version that can link up to a second or third TerminatorBot to produce a device with four or six limbs.
Via Discovery Channel.