BULETINUL INSTITUTULUI POLITEHNIC DIN IAŞI - Universitatea ...

Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LVI (LX), f. 2, 2010 121
The humanoid bipedal walking machine developed by Shadow Robot
Company is a robot that can function in a human environment to do various
repetitive things. (Fig. 4b)
The humanoid muscle-robot developed by Festo AG & Co. in collaboration
with the department of bionics and evolutionary technology of the Technical
University of Berlin (Fig. 5). This robot is a feasible extension and place holder
of men capable of operating in places either too dangerous or inaccessible for
human beings. It can operate from terrestrial and deep sea operations to tasks
carried out in outer space.
Fig. 5 – Humanoid muscle-robot moving (source www.festo.com).
Pneumatic muscles have been used in construction of artificial limbs.
At the bio robotic lab of University of Washington the limb as shown figure
6a was developed. The major requirements of their research team were:
continuous operation, low weight, quieter operation, user satisfaction, no
maintenance.
a b
Fig. 6a – Artificial limb developed at the bio robotics Lab, University of Washington.
b – Shadow Leg (source www.shadowrobot.com)