International Journal of Humanoid Robotics

Advances in social robotics have led to increased interest in designing robots that can communicate effectively with humans through nonverbal gestures. One approach to enhancing the naturalness and expressiveness of robot gestures is to incorporate biological motion, which mimics the velocity and acceleration profiles observed in human gestures. This paper examines the use of biological motion for gestural communication by humanoid social robots, focusing on the impact of biological motion on the perceived warmth and effectiveness of robot gestures in fostering engagement while interacting with these robots. The exercise involved implementing the minimum jerk model of biological motion on a Pepper humanoid social robot and conducting user studies to evaluate the impact of biological motion on human–robot interaction. The results show that incorporating biological motion cues can significantly increase the perceived warmth of robot gestures and improve the overall effectiveness of gestural communication, resulting in more natural and engaging human–robot interaction.

Research in bipedal humanoid robots focuses on improving the walking performance of robots rather than designing them according to the presence or absence of human boarding. However, a bipedal robot can be operated by a human pilot. The pilot can control the robot’s arms, fingers, and bipedal locomotion using a wearable robot. As the wearable robot can allow physical interaction between the human and the robot, the control interface for the robot can be accurately described as a human–machine interface (HMI). In this regard, this study develops and assesses a new design of a humanoid robot that enhances load capacity and mobility through improved HMI. In particular, this study presents the design research of METHOD II, which is 4.2m tall, weighs 1.6 tons, and has 46 degrees-of-freedom (DoF). The robot can carry an adult weighing up to 100kg and is designed to execute both bipedal walking and arm movements. This giant humanoid mobility robot is inspired by AMP, a combat robot suit featured in the movie “Avatar.” This paper details the design philosophy, strategy, and results of METHOD II, highlighting the robot’s performance capabilities. A design method is proposed so that the giant robot can freely generate the motion of both arms of the robot through HMI while walking on its two legs.

In motion planning of biped robots, the place where the swing foot lands on the ground is crucial. Stability, energy consumption, smoothness of movement as well as naturalness of motion can be depending on the selected foot placement. In this paper, a novel method based on the A* algorithm and kinematic manipulability for foot placement planning is presented. In this method, by calculating the magnitude and direction of the maximum manipulability for the candidate foot placements, one is selected that leads to the most dexterous and agile walking while maintaining stability. The advantage of this approach is avoiding singularities and being ready to create a higher potential for foot velocities. Therefore, the possibility of performing maneuvers to maintain walking stability would be enhanced. The mentioned algorithm has been successfully implemented on a simulated three-dimensional biped robot.