Humanoid Robot Design Assistant – Requirements from Human Motion

Humanoid robots are expected to interact with humans in built-for-human environments and perform humanlike actions. This makes the design and optimization of humanoid robots challenging, in part because of the complexity of human motions. In our previous work, we introduced an approach that automatically calculates the necessary actuator requirements for a given upper-body humanoid robot kinematic performing motions retargeted from human motion data. In this paper, we propose a humanoid robot design framework, which encompasses robot kinematic arrangement selection and actuator optimization based on the actuator requirements data with a focus on the robot upper-body. We also develop a novel actuator optimization index, based on the speed, acceleration, and torque requirements, to help evaluate possible actuator configurations. The potential of the framework is illustrated through a theoretical optimization analysis of the actuator specifications of the humanoid robots ARMAR-6 and ARMAR7, in which the optimal gear ratios of the arm joint actuators are determined based on a novel actuator optimization index for a specific set of human motions.