No abstract

An experimental model and a prototype model were made for development of underwater inspection robot. The experimental model is overground test robot that is not made watertight. The model was used for basic research and a debug tool for program development. The prototype model made watertight was developed after tests of the experimental model. The model is the first walking robot in the world that has succeeded in walking on sea bed. The hardware and soft ware of the robots are described herein. The principal features of the models are as follows. The robots are six-legged articulated "insect type" robots known as "AQUAROBOT". Each leg has three articulations and is driven semi-directly by a DC motor that is built in the leg and have a touch sensor on the foot. The robots can walk on uneven ground and can walk in any direction without changing its quarter.

In the course of the development of fibers for artificial hair, we found that the polyamide ６ (PA ６)based blend fibers with granular rough surface can be prepared through the melt spinning of PA６／Poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) blend polymer under particular spinning conditions. The surface roughness was found to be enhanced with the decrease of extrusion temperature and the increase of PET composition. Observation of the surface and cross-section of fibers after the acidand alkali-treatment revealed that the rough-surface of the fiber was composed of the sea component of PA ６ whereas PET was dispersed evenly in the cross-section to form island component. Observation of the fibers captured from the spinning line revealed that the development of rough surface proceeded between the spinning nozzle and the water-quenching bath, in that the surface roughness was enhanced as distance from the spinning nozzle increased. It was difficult to clarify the fundamental mechanism for the development of rough surface even after analyzing the variations of the temperature of molten polymer and the size of the dispersed PET component in the extrusion system and the variation of the die-swell ratio depending on the extrusion conditions. It was speculated that further investigation is necessary from the view point of the crystallization behavior of PET in the process.

No abstract

No abstract