A group of artists and engineers has created a 35-foot robot snake, in an effort to highlight climate change, they say.
It’s intended as a recreation of the Titanoboa snake, which lived 60 million years ago.
“The Titanoboa project seeks to reincarnate this 50 foot, 1 ton beast as an amphibious, electromechanical serpent machine meant to provoke discussions of our changing climate and energy use in a historical context,” says the eatART team.
“This giant electromechanical reincarnation will roam the earth terrifying and enlightening those who dare to ride the snake along the razor’s edge between hope and fear and contemplate the future of our planet.”
The snake – which can be ridden or controlled remotely, says the team – is based on 30 high strength aluminum vertebrae, plus a head, powered by a scalable lithium polymer battery system. There are plans to cover it with metallic scales.
It has a pair of fearsome animated jaws, and can move in four ways: concertina – used for striking or sudden movements – lateral undulation and the similar side winding, and the rectilinear motion of a caterpillar.
And there’s a great video of the snake meeting a giant robot spider, below.
