职称英语真题理工2006年B类：阅读理解_职称英语考试真题理工类

职称英语真题理工2006年B类：阅读理解

　　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 dont 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-16s normal walking step measures 30 centimetres， but it can stretch its legs to 136 cm apart. 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.