Once upon a time, a robotic rat may find you under the rubble. Work on it is currently underway

In the journal IEEE Transactions on Robotics a publication appeared on another robot designed specifically for the exploration of tight spaces. This time, scientists from the Chinese Beijing Institute of Technology, led by Professor Qing Shi, added something to this segment. Here’s… the SquRo robotic rat.

SquRo is a robotic rat named after (guessing) the Little Four-legged Robotic Rat

The SquRo project was based on a specific species of rat, the Norwegian rat. The engineers gave him two degrees of freedom in each of the four legs, two in the waist and two in the head. This is not a coincidence, as such an arrangement itself replicates the long, flexible spine of a real rat, allowing the robot to bend and rotate quickly.

Its minimum turning radius is just 0.48 body length, which is reportedly a much lower value than other similarly sized four-legged robots. Weighing 220 grams, SQuRo is also officially thinner and lighter than such robots, while delighting with the possibility of lifting up to 200 grams of cargo in the form of cameras or sensors.

The robot’s advanced control allows it to straighten up after an unfortunate fall, squeeze through irregularly shaped aisles up to 90mm in diameter, pass over obstacles up to 30mm in height, and maintain a stable position while climbing a 15-degree slope. All this is due to four pre-designed modes of movement that change on a regular basis depending on the ground.

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It is hoped that after further technology development, the SQuRo robotic rat will eventually be used to search for survivors at disaster sites or to conduct inspections in hard-to-reach places.