Compliant and compact joint mechanism for a child android robot

Abstract

We have developed a compact joint mechanism for a child android robot “Affetto”, which is designed for more intuitive and close physical human-robot interaction. The joint mechanism has 26 DOFs (3 in neck, 1 in chest, 2 in waist, 5 in each arm, 5 in each leg) in its latest version. All of them are driven by pneumatic actuators (air cylinders and air vane actuators), which provide them with compliance and agility. Such flexible and compact joint mechanism will enable safe and casual physical interaction with appropriate soft coverings our project team is now developing.