In areas that are inaccessible to humans, such as the lunar surface and landslide sites, there is a need for multiple autonomous mobile robot systems that can replace human workers. In particular, at landslide sites such as river channel blockages, robots are required to remove water and sediment from the site as soon as possible. Conventionally, several construction machines have been deployed to the site for civil engineering work. However, because of the large size and weight of conventional construction equipment, it is difficult to move multiple units of construction equipment to the site, resulting in significant transportation costs and time. To solve such problems, this study proposes a novel growing robot by eating environmental material called GREEMA, which is lightweight and compact during transportation, but can function by eating on environmental materials once it arrives at the site. GREEMA actively takes in environmental materials such as water and sediment, uses them as its structure, and removes them by moving itself. In this paper, we developed and experimentally verified two types of GREEMAs. First, we developed a fin-type swimming robot that passively takes water into its body using a water-absorbing polymer and forms a body to express its swimming function. Second, we constructed an arm-type robot that eats soil to increase the rigidity of its body. We discuss the results of these two experiments from the viewpoint of Explicit-Implicit control and describe the design theory of GREEMA.

翻译：在人类无法进入的区域，例如月球表面和滑坡现场，需要能够替代人类工作的多自主移动机器人系统。特别是在河道堵塞等滑坡现场，要求机器人能尽快清除现场的水和沉积物。传统上，数台工程机械会被部署到现场进行土木工程作业。然而，由于传统工程设备体积大、重量重，难以将多台设备同时运往现场，导致高昂的运输成本和时间消耗。为解决此类问题，本研究提出一种名为GREEMA的新型吞噬环境物质生长机器人——该机器人在运输时轻便紧凑，但一旦抵达现场，即可通过吞噬环境物质来实现功能。GREEMA主动吸收水和沉积物等环境物质，将其作为自身结构的一部分，并通过自主移动来清除这些物质。本文开发并实验验证了两种类型的GREEMA。首先，我们开发了一种鳍式游泳机器人，它能利用吸水聚合物被动将水吸入体内，并形成身体以表达游泳功能。其次，我们构建了一种臂式机器人，通过吞噬土壤来增加其身体刚度。我们从显式-隐式控制的角度讨论了这两个实验的结果，并阐述了GREEMA的设计理论。