It essentially has the same issue. How many scenarios can we think of that need something that can crawl into rubble or explore irregular caves, but without the ability to climb? It’s what happens when a design’s aesthetic is developed before its function.
When aesthetics is the selling point of an engineering project then the aesthetics is its purpose. In this case it’s to advertise a university’s research department.
Running cables through conduit is one example that comes to mind. You need something to drag the lead, and if there’s corners or something that thwarts using a fish tape, this kind of robot would be perfect.
It’s still not as effective as the current means. Plus, this would only hypothetically work on conduit that doesn’t elevate or go vertical. It’s cheaper and faster to just apply a shop vacuum to the conduit and suck a ball with a line through.
It essentially has the same issue. How many scenarios can we think of that need something that can crawl into rubble or explore irregular caves, but without the ability to climb? It’s what happens when a design’s aesthetic is developed before its function.
When aesthetics is the selling point of an engineering project then the aesthetics is its purpose. In this case it’s to advertise a university’s research department.
Running cables through conduit is one example that comes to mind. You need something to drag the lead, and if there’s corners or something that thwarts using a fish tape, this kind of robot would be perfect.
It’s still not as effective as the current means. Plus, this would only hypothetically work on conduit that doesn’t elevate or go vertical. It’s cheaper and faster to just apply a shop vacuum to the conduit and suck a ball with a line through.
If the robot is the right size, it would be able to move vertically.
Mind you, you’re right, but new methods of locomotion can come in useful in surprising ways that you and I haven’t thought of.