1999 – Slim Slime Snake Robot – Shigeo Hirose and Takeshi Aoki (Japanese)

Slim Slime Robot The Slim Slime robot is a robot made up of linearly connecting multiple modules that pneumatically bend and elongate. Inside a module (below), three metal bellows are arranged in parallel at regular intervals with an identical circumference. Both ends of each bellows are fixed with two disks, and the disks are connected …

1978-9 – PV-II 4-Legged Walking Machine – Hirose & Umetani (Japanese)

Photo.2 Sensor based stair climibing walk of the PV-II. KUMO-I (1976, see here), PV-II (1978-1979, Photo. 2). The method of locomotion called “walking” requires considerably more actuators than the wheel me thod of locomotion, the drive system is heavy; and it is not simple to control. However, walking machines, because they can move while separately …

1976 – KUMO-I 4-Legged Walking Machine – Hirose & Umetani (Japanese)

Research on Quadruped Walking Machines     KUMO-I (1976, see photo above), PV-II (1978-1979, see here). The method of locomotion called "walking" requires considerably more actuators than the wheel me thod of locomotion, the drive system is heavy; and it is not simple to control. However, walking machines, because they can move while separately selecting the point …