Biomimicry

"Snake skin inspired surfaces smash records, providing an astonishing 40% friction reduction in tests of high performance materials. These new surfaces could improve the reliability of mechanical components in machines such as high performance cars and add grist to the mill of engineers designing a new generation of space exploration robots."

"[...] The snake is proving to be a very versatile model when it comes to robotic biomimicry. Applications ranging from inspecting nuclear power plants toassembling aircraft and even exploring Mars have been identified for snake-like robots, but unlike these and many other robot designs, MIT's silicone rubber robot doesn’t have fixed-joints and the lack of mobility and flexibility they bring. Instead, this soft-shelled automaton is constructed with a group of hollow, individually inflatable channels ranged down either side of it that, when filled with air, change shape and bend that part of the arm in the required direction. Inflating or deflating these air pockets at various places on the arm means that it can be deformed into almost any curve or arc; a feat impossible with solid, fixed-joint machines."