Development of a performance robot

Abstract

Of the various types of robots there is a kind of robot, called the 'performance robot', which, unlike industrial robots that are programmed to do some useful work, just express acts, make gestures, or communicate instead of doing actual work. This paper reports on our studies on this kind of robot. It analyses the significance of performance robots, and on this basis discusses the image, idea, and sketches of performance robots from the standpoint that aesthetic design or styling is more important than functional design in designing such robots. We then design the hardware, and present the specifications and performance of a prototype robot. The prototype robot operates with shape-memory alloy actuators, the use of which makes it possible to achieve gentle movements. Furthermore, we analyse the significance of robots that do not work, and also study the development of their application areas.