Allen Pan invented a robotic prosthetic for snakes, allowing these creatures to find their legs again. (Image Credit: Allen Pan/YouTube)
Believe it or not, snakes endorsed legs and walked around prehistoric Earth approximately 150 million years ago. But evolution eventually had enough and took its legs away. Allen Pan, a science vlogger, vowed to give snakes their legs back by developing a 3D-printed robot exoskeleton, allowing a Python to "walk." Their legs didn't completely disappear; however, they only appear when the snake is an embryo. After their birth, two vestigial-like leg formations emerge. "It turns out that snakes do have two legs when they're embryos," the vlogger said.
In his video, Pan informed viewers that humans always attach prosthetic legs to animals that need them the most. He also stated, "nobody loves snakes enough to build them robot legs." To that end, Pan set out to develop the most efficient snake-walking device possible and slithered his way through trial and error. At first, he went to a pet store to figure out how snakes potentially walk by observing lizards.
Pan's design includes a plastic housing and four robotic legs that provide the snake with walking capabilities. (Image Credit: Allen Pan/YouTube)
Then, Pan settled on a simplistic design after seeking inspiration from the Western three-toed skinks, a 90's bionic video game character named Earthworm Jim, and a brutally terrifying fish called the sea robin. The exoskeleton features four remote-controlled legs attached to translucent plastic tubing that serves as the cockpit. Each leg has two servos connected to a servo controller board, which is activated wirelessly and programmed through his laptop.
He also visited a local snake breeder named "Grandaddy Herp" to help him place the python into this structure. Overall, the yellow ball python didn't hiss in any event, suggesting that it felt genuinely pleased as it walked around. More impressively, these robotic legs can accurately replicate the four-legged reptile's gait. Perhaps, as Pan put it best, "snakes do want their legs back."
"I cannot get over the image of the snake crawling into its robotic exoskeleton," the science vlogger said.
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