NEC Corp has developed a snake-like remote-controlled robot with a camera in its head, which is designed to explore inaccessible places. As well as examining pipes, the robot could be used to search the rubble of collapsed buildings, transmitting television pictures back to its operator, NEC said. It is 4.2 feet long and 1.7 in diameter, and weighs 10 lbs. It has six joints that NEC says are more flexible than the joints of the most advanced robots now in use, and each joint has a central processing unit for motor control. At a demonstration in Tokyo, the robot snaked over a pile of rubble to find a doll representing a child.
