Guardian S

Discontinued, but worth knowing: the Guardian S from Sarcos of Salt Lake City was a snake-like inspection robot launched in 2017 and withdrawn after the company's 2024 pivot to software; dealer listings mark it discontinued.

The 52 in (132 cm) machine, about 4.7 × 5.2 in cross-section, weighs 17 lb (7.7 kg; the CEO quoted 13 lb in 2017), carries 10 lb (4.5 kg) and moves at 1.4 mph (2.3 km/h) in snake or tank mode. A magnetic version of 8.2 kg climbs steel walls and tanks at 0.6 mph while holding 2.3 kg vertically.

Three swappable 14.4 V lithium-ion packs totalling 147 Wh supply power; the link is WLAN 802.11ac, with an optional radio module. Six 4K cameras, GPS and an IMU are standard, gas and thermal sensors optional; the IP65 housing works from −20 to +60 °C. Sarcos marketed the Guardian S both for inspecting pipes, tanks and disaster rubble and for reconnaissance by police SWAT teams, named only generically in the trade press.

With the product gone, no price applies, and the date of discontinuation is not documented. The Austrian taurob tracker, also withdrawn, weighed eight times as much but offered a manipulator and ATEX certification. Among the robots catalogued here, the crawl-space role has since passed to indoor drones such as the Elios 3 rather than to new snake robots.