Germany's New TOrque Controlled Humanoid Robot : TORO

Humanoid Robot : TORO

HUMANOID ROBOT :- A humanoid robot is a robot with its body shape built to resemble that of the human body. A humanoid design might be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipedal locomotion, or for other purposes. In general, humanoid robots have a torso, a head, two arms, and two legs, though some forms of humanoid robots may model only part of the body, for example, from the waist up. Some humanoid robots may also have heads designed to replicate human facial features such as eyes and mouths. Androids are humanoid robots built to aesthetically resemble humans.

Engineers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have created a Torque controlled humanoid Robot that can react to its environment and move safely in an unknown area which they began in  the summer of 2009, with two legs and a camera mounted on top – but it was still far from being a robot of humanoid appearance. But now the walking machine, has become more human-like – an upper body, a head with camera eyes and arms have been added. TORO is now complete, with forearms and hands with sensors and flexible joints that allow it to respond to its environment with exceptional sensitivity.  It has strong legs, slightly thinner arms, but as yet no face.

Its creator is Christian Ott, a doctor of engineering, who has set himself the goal of teaching TORO how to walk - step by step. In more precise terms, the aim is the art of "flexible walking" -  climbing stairs or opening doors, for example.

"Now that the robotic body is complete, we can test processes where the robot carries out sequences of movements with foresight and fluency," explains Project Manager Christian Ott. Ott began his work in 2009 with the model of an arm which he evolved into a walking apparatus – without an upper body and shoulders attached to the hip.

The researchers at DLR want to push TORO beyond what other humanoid robots like ASIMO already do, including the ability to react autonomously and intelligently in a range of different circumstances, navigating stairs and opening doors, for example.

The actual further development of TORO takes place on the computer: using simulations, the researchers refine algorithms and develop methods for rendering TORO's gait more robust and flexible. In the long term, the DLR researchers intend to further adapt their walking apparatuses to emulate humans even more, for instance, by imitating sinews. This is to enable future generations of robots to walk faster whilst requiring less energy.

TORO'S evolution

RELATED VIDEO:

You have read this articleRobots / Tech-News with the title Germany's New TOrque Controlled Humanoid Robot : TORO. You can bookmark this page URL http://astrofuturetrends.blogspot.com/2013/07/germany-new-torque-controlled-humanoid.html. Thanks!

Write by: RC - Tuesday, July 2, 2013