Robots learn from sidewinder snakes

The amazing ability of sidewinder snakes to quickly climb sandy slopes was once something biologists only vaguely understood and roboticists only dreamed of replicating. By studying the snakes in a unique bed of inclined sand and using a snakelike robot to test ideas spawned by observing the real animals, both biologists and roboticists have now gained longsought insights. Video shows research into how the snakes move.