由肌肉組織驅動的兩足機器人問世

藍利霞

“Research on biohybrid robots， which are a mixtureof biology and mechanics， is recently attracting attentionas a new field of robotics featuring biological function，”says corresponding author Shoji Takeuchi of the Universityof Tokyo， Japan. Muscle tissues have driven biohybridrobots to crawl and swim straight forward and maketurns.

To build a flexible robot with fine and delicatemovements， the researchers designed a biohybrid robotthat imitates human walk and operates in water. The robothas a foam buoy（ 泡沫浮標） top and weighted legsto help it stand straight underwater.

The basic structure of the robot is mainly madefrom silicone（ 硅酮） rubber that can bend and stretch toadjust to muscle movements. Researchers then attachedstrips of lab-grown skeletal muscle tissues to the siliconerubber and each leg. When the researchers movedthe muscle tissue with electricity， the muscle tightened，hoisting the leg up. The heel of the leg then landed forwardwhen the electricity disappeared.

By changing the electric stimulation between theleft and right leg every 5 seconds， the biohybrid robotsuccessfully “walked” at the speed of 5.4 mm/min （0.002mph）. To turn， researchers repeatedly moved the rightleg every 5 seconds while the left leg served as a support.The robot made a 90-degree left turn in 62 seconds.The findings showed that the muscle-driven bipedal robotcan walk， stop， and make fine-tuned turning motions.

Currently， researcher are manually moving a pair ofelectrodes（ 電焊條） to apply an electric field individuallyto the legs， which takes time. In the future， by integratingthe electrodes into the robot， they expect to increase thespeed more efficiently. The team also plans to give jointsand thicker muscle tissues to the bipedal robot to enablemore complex and powerful movements. But before upgradingthe robot with more biological components， theteam will have to integrate a nutrient supply system tosustain the living tissues and device structures that allowthe robot to operate in the air.

（材料出自Science Daily 網站，有刪改）

1. What makes biohybrid robots swim？

A. Biology.B. Mechanics.

C. Foam buoy. D. Muscle tissues.

2. What does the underlined word “hoisting” mean in Paragraph 3？

A. Warming. B. Trapping.

C. Lifting. D. Giving.

3. What can be inferred from Paragraph 4？

A. The biohybrid robot can be put into use.

B. The biohybrid robot can make a turn slowly.

C. The biohybrid robot can walk， swim and jump.

D. The biohybrid robot can just move the right leg.

4. What is the authors attitude to the bipedal robot with complex movements？

A. Mild. B. Objective.

C. Indifferent. D. Dismissive.

參考答案

1. D。解析：細節理解題。根據材料第一段的最后一句“Muscle tissues have driven biohybrid robots tocrawl and swim straight forward and make turns.”，我們可知，肌肉組織使得機器人會游泳。故選D。

2. C。解析：詞義猜測題。根據材料第三段倒數第二句中的動詞“moved”“tightened”和最后一句中的“landed forward”，我們可知，機器人處于走路狀態時，它的肌肉會收緊，促使腿抬起（hoist），然后著地。故選C。

3. B。解析：推理判斷題。根據材料第四段的倒數第二句“The robot made a 90-degree left turn in 62seconds.”，我們可知，機器人在62 秒內完成了左轉90 度的動作，這說明其轉得比較慢。故選B。

4. B。解析：意圖態度題。根據材料最后一段的最后一句“But before upgrading the robot with morebiological components， the team will have to integrate anutrient supply system to sustain the living tissues anddevice structures that allow the robot to operate in theair”，我們可知，在為機器人升級更多的生物組件之前，研究團隊必須整合出一個營養供應系統，以維持活組織和設備結構，使機器人能夠在空氣中運轉。故選B。