Each Robot Generation Shows Significant Improvement

Roughly five years ago, when the early ROBO-ONE humanoid robot builders first started on their quest to replicate ASIMO almost all of their designs were rectilinear, probably because the angles and static/dynamic relationships were easier to conceptualize and calculate. Servo orientation, placement, and the supporting body frames, all used right angles and straight lines.

It was only after a few generations of hobby humanoids that new approaches started to appear and take hold. After all, the human body, which is the model that the individual robotists were attempting to emulate or clone, doesn’t use right angles and straight lines, far from it.

Notice the servo placement and orientation with the rotational axis located closer to the robots body than usual. A special frame extends the shoulder over the servo case.

Earlier humanoids had the rotational axis positioned on the opposite end of the servo which was more mechanically unbalanced and sometimes lead to oscillatory vibration. This later design approach is more stable and contributes to better balance requiring less gyro feedback control while in motion.

The same design approach can be applied to all the robots joints and frames. If this much progress can be made in only a few years, what great leaps lie ahead?

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3. JR Shows Off New Humanoid Robot Prototype
4. ROBO-ONE Robot Profile: Metallic Fighter – next generation (Video)
5. Maxwell – Robot Servo Linearity Testing

Posted by Lem on Jun 5, 2009 in Design, Hardware, RoboCup | 1 comment