For now, it does just one thing and does it well. "This paper presents a method that allows a snake robot to climb a ladder," the abstract states. "We designed a novel gait for the snake using a gait design method that configures the target form of the snake robot by connecting simple shapes. The climbing motion is executed via shift control and the corresponding motion required to catch the next step on the ladder. In addition, we developed a snake robot that has a smooth exterior body surface through construction of pectinate-shaped parts of the links."

Jokes aside, the snakebot (it really needs a better name if you have any suggestions) could serve a very useful purpose. With the ability to climb both inclined and vertical ladders, it could access disaster areas where rescuers can't go to look for survivors or enter into a mine after a collapse. Even if they don't do anything with it, it's kind of cool in a creepy way to just watch it in action, in the video below.