Robot rescuers

The building you are in has collapsed. Trapped in a small gap beneath tonnes of unstable rubble, with the smell of gas getting stronger by the minute, there seems little chance that anyone will find you in time.

But as you lie immobilised, a mechanical serpent, attracted by the CO2 in your breath and the heat from your body, wriggles towards you through gaps too small and dangerous for humans. As you breathe the oxygen brought by your unusual rescuer, your precise location is beamed to a team of human emergency workers who, spurred on by the knowledge that you’re alive, can begin to dig their way through to you.

This is not a futuristic dream. While the world’s media marvels at the latest trumpet-playing bipeds from Japan, a new breed of distinctly non-humanoid robots that crawl, burrow, slither, climb and swim are poised to play an increasing role in emergency search-and-rescue operations.