We have developed miniature direct drive DC motor actuators for robotics. These actuators have low friction, small size, high speed, low construction cost, no gear backlash, operate safely without the use of limit switches and generate moderate torque at a high torque to weight ratio. Our initial experiments indicated the feasibility of constructing a variety of new high speed low cost actuators, for applications in camera pointing, robot hands, and robot legs. In this work we study some prototype devices in each of these categories. 1 Introduction Electromagnetic devices remain the most viable form of robot actuator, due to their relatively high strength, their well understood characteristics, the ease of interfacing them to electronic control circuits, and the nearly universal availability of electricity as a power source. Moreover, there is ongoing steady advance in electric motor component technology including permanent magnets, permeable materials, power transistors, bearings and...

Our aim is to sketch the boundaries of a parallel track in the evolution of robotic forms that is radically different from any previously attempted. To do this we will first describe the motivation for doing so and then the strategy for achieving it. Along the way, it will become clear that the machines we design and build are not robots in any traditional sense. They are not machines designed to perform a set of goal oriented tasks, or work, but rather to express modes of survivalist behavior: the survival of a mobile autonomous machine in an a priori unknown and possibly hostile environment. We use no notion of conventional "intelligence " in our designs, although we suspect some strange form of that may come later. Our topic is survival oriented machines, and it turns out that intelligence in any sophisticated form is unnecessary for this concept. For such machines, if life is provisionally defined as that which moves for its own purposes, then we are dealing with living machines and how to evolve them. We call these machines biomorphs ( BIOlogical MORPHology), a form of parallel life. Introduction to Biomorphic Machines

This paper presents the design and some preliminary analysis of a hopping robot for planetary exploration. The goal of this project is to explore a different mobility paradigm which may present advantages over conventional wheel and leg locomotion. The approach is to achieve mobility by hopping and perform science and imaging via rolling. The device is currently equipped with a single video camera representing the science sensor suite. The hopper is equipped with a simple microprocessor and wireless modem so that it can receive sequences of commands and autonomously execute them, making it suitable for exploration of distant planets, comets and asteroids. One important feature of this hopper is that it uses a single motor for hopping in a specified direction as well as pointing the camera via rolling. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION 3. MODEL AND CONTROL 4. LARGE AND FINE MOTION 5. INITIAL TESTS 6. CONCLUSIONS 7. ACKNOWLEDGMENT 8. REFERENCES 1. INTRODUC...

In this paper a novel hopping robot is introduced that uses inverse pendulum dynamics to induce several different gaits. Its mechanical structure consists of a rigid inverted T-shape mounted on four compliant feet. An upright "T" structure is connected to this by a rotary joint. The horizontal beam of the upright "T" is connected to the vertical beam by a second rotary joint. Using this two degree of freedom mechanical structure, the robot is able to perform lateral bounding in addition to hopping forward, reversing direction and turning. Here, the control of lateral bounding is investigated and experimentally tested. The results show that two unique limit cycles exist for lateral motion. Ipsilateral bounding, in the same direction as upper body motion, is fast but unstable and could be used for emergency situations. Contralateral bounding, on the other hand, is stable and robust, and can be viable for practical long-range applications on uneven terrain. The characteristics and control of these two modes of locomotion are explored in this paper.

The paper addresses the problem of energy-efficient control of running legged mechanisms via the case study of the planar one-legged hopper. Due to its mechanical simplicity, the planar one-legged hopper is generally considered as the basic prototype of mechanisms capable of ballistic running gaits. What makes this system particularly interesting is that, endowed with a proper selection of springs, it can be controlled without spending much actuation energy. Giving core to this possibility has already motivated a few studies, but has not yet, to our knowledge, been extensively explored. The present study is another attempt in this direction. Being primarily motivated by control design and analysis aspects, we have tried to set the basis of a methodology for the derivation of a new class of simple controllers capable of stabilizing passive periodic motions. Elements of this class are explicited by making specic choices about the model used for control design and the control actuation s...

This paper presents the design and some preliminary analysis of a hopping robot for planetary exploration. The goal of this project is to explore a different mobility paradigm which may present advantages over conventional wheel and leg locomotion. The approach is to achieve mobility by hopping and perform science and imaging via rolling. The device is currently equipped with a single video camera representing the science sensor suite. The hopper is equipped with a simple microprocessor and wireless modem so that it can receive sequences of commands and autonomously execute them, making it suitable for exploration of distant planets, comets and asteroids. One important feature of this hopper is that it uses a single motor for hopping in a specified direction as well as pointing the camera via rolling. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.

In this paper a new kind of hopping robot has been designed which uses inverse pendulum dynamics to induce bipedal hopping gaits. Its mechanical structure consists of a rigid inverted T-shape mounted on four compliant feet. An upright "T" structure is connected to this by a rotary joint. The horizontal beam of the upright "T" is connected to the vertical beam by a second rotary joint. Using this two degree of freedom mechanical structure, with simple reactive control, the robot is able to perform hopping, walking and running gaits. During walking, it is experimentally shown that the robot can move in a straight line, reverse direction and control its turning radius. The results show that such a simple but versatile robot displays stable locomotion and can be viable for practical applications on uneven terrain.

Humanoid robots selectively emulate aspects of human form and behavior. Humanoids come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from complete human-size legged robots to isolated robotic heads with human-like sensing and expression. This chapter highlights significant humanoid platforms and achievements, and discusses some of the underlying goals behind this area of robotics. Humanoids tend to require the integration of many of the methods covered in detail within other chapters of this handbook, so this chapter focuses on distinctive aspects of humanoid robotics with liberal cross-referencing. This chapter examines what motivates researchers to pursue humanoid robotics, and