日本 NEC 功能电子学研究所开发出一种蛇形机器人,可进入因地震,火灾而倾毁的建筑物内部,或是在宇宙空间、核反应器和化学工厂等危险场所作业。这种蛇形机器人外形很像蛇,以屈伸躯体的方式纵向前进。它由若干模仿人类手臂动作的组合式关节连结而成,并采用世界上第一个可同时驱动每个关节作出上下左右动作的活动万向接头,从而使蛇形机器人能在三维空间里活动自如。在这种蛇形机器人中,驱动用马达和控制该马达的超小型组件均内藏在关节里。由于各 Japan’s NEC Institute of Functional Electronics has developed a snake-like robot that can enter buildings that have been dumped by earthquakes or fires, or operate in hazardous locations such as in space, nuclear reactors and chemical plants. This snake-like robot looks like a snake in the form of flexing and stretching the body longitudinally. It is composed of a number of modular joints that mimic human arm movements and uses the world’s first universal joint that can drive each joint up and down, left and right at the same time so that the serpentine robot can move freely in three dimensions . In such a serpentine robot, a driving motor and an ultra-small module that controls the motor are built in the joint. Because of each