This is fundamentally a robotics problem. Typical issues with robotics have to do with sensing, power supply, and actuators (the last two being pretty well coup

This is fundamentally a robotics problem. Typical issues with robotics have to do with sensing, power supply, and actuators (the last two being pretty well coupled). This particular application makes the first two issues make easier - it is a fixed application where installing extra sensors isn't too much of a big deal, and also interacts with a more or less predictable object. Power supply... ya, this thing is plugged into a wall, not an issue. Actuator-wise is just a question of price. Something that helps to make this seem less 'high-tech' is to imagine not a flexible cable or hose that articulates, but rather a large series of rigid connectors between articulation joints. CMU has a biorobotics lab that is particularly fond of snake bots (http://biorobotics.ri.cmu.edu/projects/modsnake/ http://biorobotics.ri.cmu.edu/projects/modsnake/).