The snake got started by private investors who “just believed in it.” The video shows the snake “slithering” around to its target, which, in this case, is a stuffed giraffe. The snake is able to avoid obstacles in the jungle of pipes and grab the stuffed giraffe. In more practical use, the snake could get sample of something flakey or powdery or a liquid, or in this case, “something giraffe like.” The snake has a camera at its head which allows the researchers to navigate the robot. Not only is the snake-arm robot a great solution for retrieving objects from impossible-to-reach places, but it also has the potential to greatly impact the nuclear cleanup industry. But will the industry end up buying into the expensive robot? It’ll be a few more years before the snakes are put into action in the field, but we’ll know soon enough. Read more at OC Robotics, or watch the video at the BBC