At the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) held in Madrid earlier this month, researchers presented a flexible snake-like robot that is able to climb ladders. The project was a collaboration between Kyoto University and the University of Electro-Communications in Japan. A newly developed gait allows the robot snake to bend and twist its smooth body to create a series of connected shapes, which slowly but securely wrap around each rung as it climbs upwards. This breakthrough could be helpful in disaster recovery situations – enabling rescuers to access damaged buildings and other infrastructure more easily, navigating obstacles or terrain that even human-like robots might have trouble with. The snake is able to climb ladders that are both inclined and fully vertical.