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Walking Robot Carries a
Person The first walking robot capable of carrying a person unveiled on Friday in Tokyo, Japan. Its creators at Waseda University in Tokyo and the Japanese robotics company Tmsuk hope their two-leg-ged creation will one day enable wheel-chair users to climb up and down the stairs and assist the movement of heavy goods over uneven ground. The battery-powered robot, code-named WL-16, is essentially an aluminium chair mounted on two sets of telescopic poles. The poles are bolted to flat plates which act as feet. WL-16 uses 12 actuators (传动装置) to move forwards, backwards and sideways while carrying an adult weighing up to 60 kilograms (130 pounds). The robot can adjust its body and walk smoothly even if the person it is carrying shifts in the chair. At present it can only step up or down A few millimeters, but the team plans to make it capable of dealing with a normal flight of stairs. "I believe this bipedal (两足的) robot, which I prefer to call a two-legged walking chair rather than a wheel-chair, will eventually enable people to go up and down the stairs. " said Atsuo Takanishi, from Waseda University. "We have had strong robots for some time but usually they have been manipulators, they have not been geared to carrying people around. " says Ron Arkin, at the Georgia Institute of Technology and robotics consultant for Sony. "But I don't know how safe and how user-friendly WL-16 is. " Tmsuk chief executive Yoichi Takamoto argues that bipedal or multi-legged robots will be more useful than so-called "caterpillar (毛毛虫) models" for moving over uneven ground. WL-16's normal walking step measures 30 centimeters, but it can stretch its legs to 136 cm a part. The prototype (原型) is currently radio-controlled, but the research team plans to equip it with a stick-like controller for the user in future. Takanishi said it will take "at least two years" to develop the WL-16 prototype into a working model. Smaller, ground-hugging (紧贴地面行走的) robots have been developed to pass across tricky ground. One maggot-like (像蛆一样的) device uses a magnetic fluid to pulse its way along, while another snake-like robot uses smart software to devise new movement strategies if the landscape affects any one part. One ball-shaped robot even uses a leap-and-bounce approach to travel over rough territory. But none of these are big or strong enough to carry a person too. |