Although not built for speed, taking about 35 hours to cover 344 feet (105 meters), the worm robot is faster than other hydraulically powered counterparts. It is ideally suited for exploration in confined spaces like pipelines, potentially aiding in maintenance and repairs.
Both robots represent significant progress toward robust, energy-efficient robotic designs capable of performing complex tasks in different environments. Shepherd envisions incorporating high-capacity lithium-polymer batteries in embodied-energy robots with skeletal structures as this technology evolves, making them more versatile.