ARCSnake V2: An Amphibious Multi-Domain Screw-Propelled Snake-Like Robot

Abstract-- Robotic exploration in extreme environments--such as caves, oceans, and planetary surfaces--poses significant challenges, particularly in locomotion across diverse terrains. Conventional wheeled or legged robots often struggle in these contexts due to surface variability. This paper presents ARCSnake V2, an amphibious, screw-propelled, snake-like robot designed for teleoperated or autonomous locomotion across land, granular media, and aquatic environments. ARCSnake V2 combines the high mobility of hyper-redundant snake robots with the terrain versatility of Archimedean screw propulsion. Key contributions include a water-sealed mechanical design with serially linked screw and joint actuation, an integrated buoyancy control system, and teleoperation via a kinematically-matched handheld controller . The robot's design and control architecture enable multiple locomotion modes--screwing, wheeling, and sidewinding--with smooth transitions between them. Robotic exploration in extreme environments, such as caves, oceans and planetary surfaces, poses significant challenges for the diverse set of terrains [1].