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Impact at each leg transition is one of the main causes of energy dissipation in most of the current bipedal walking robots. Minimizing impact can reduce the energy loss. Instead of controlling the joint angle profiles to reduce the impact, which requires a significant amount of energy, installing elastic mechanisms (with adjustable stiffness) on the robots structure is proposed in this paper, enabling the robot to reduce the impact, and to store part of the energy in the elastic form and return it to the robot. The conceptual design of an adjustable stiffness artificial tendon is proposed which is added to the ankle joint of a bipedal walking robot model. Simulation results on the stance phase demonstrate significant improvements in the energetics of the bipedal walking robot by proper stiffness adjustment of the tendon as compared to using a single linear spring. A controller based on energy feedback is designed to automatically adjust the stiffness of the tendon. Computer simulations illustrate improvements in performance of the energetics of the bipedal walking robot in consecutive walking steps while the stiffness of the tendon is adjusted properly.

In this paper, problems for an anthropomorphic robot arm are approached for an application in a humanoid robot with the specific features of cost oriented design and user-friendly operation. One DOF solution is proposed by using a suitable combination of gearing systems, clutches, and linkages. Models and dynamic simulations are used both for designing the system and checking the operation feasibility.

This paper reports on the mechanical design of the huggable robot Probo. Its intentions include human–robot interaction (HRI), both physical and cognitive, with a special focus on children. Since most of the communication passes through nonverbal cues and since people rely on face-to-face communication, the focus of Probo's communicative skills lies initially on facial expressions. The robot has 20 high-precision motors in its head and body. They are used to actuate the ears, eyebrows, eyelids, eyes, trunk, mouth, and neck. To build safety aspects intrinsically in the robot's hardware, all the motors are linked with flexible components. In case of a collision, the robot will be elastic and safety will be ensured. The mechanics of Probo are covered by protecting plastic shells, foam, and soft fur. This gives Probo's animal-like look and makes the robot huggable.

The impressive manipulation capabilities of the human hand are undoubtedly related to the thumb opposition. Such a versatility is highly desirable in the context of humanoid robots, in particular when performing object manipulation. In the present case, a robotic hand with size, forces, velocity, and shape comparable to the human one, is envisioned. Unlike most robotic designs — where the fingers are modular and the thumb is simply a finger placed in opposition — the thumb benefits from an intensive functional analysis. This paper details the design method of the thumb of the Awiwi hand, the hand of the Integrated Hand Arm System project of DLR. First, several guidelines are presented that are fused and, with the help of a novel optimization method, lead to the final design. Finally, the design is evaluated by the means of biomedical tests on the realized hardware.

Design of intelligent research systems is considered as one of the most prominent developments in multi-modal information domains in our day-to-day life. While significant growth in computer-aided English teaching methods (CAETMs) has made a progression over the past few years using techniques such as computational intelligence, biological computing aspects within the artificial intelligence domain. All the research in English teaching structures has been automated through online cloud-based applications and progressing at a rapid rate. But there are still a number of subjects that need to be explored in terms of its design, implementation, deployment of intelligent methods, and multi-agent systems in a real-world environment. However establishing teaching research subjects with novel techniques and methodologies utilized in computer vision in support of deep learning, semantic models in healthcare, organizations, and education sector are in need of further research with innovative and creative ideas. This paper will provide the emerging CAETM that solved the global needs of people in the educational domain. We will also discuss the improvements that need to be done in English teaching methods with digital computing solutions.