I am curious what is going on in servo research and development that impacts the development of more human like humanoid robots?
Hi geekcom,
Welcome to the RobotShop Forum. Interesting to note that RT Corp. in Japan intends to release a 1.2m tall humanoid robot using Futaba robot servos. ServoCity has re-made the standard servos to create much more powerful (albeit physically larger and heavier) servo motors:
Instead of restricting yourself to hobby servos, you might want to consider different types of actuators, such as linear actuators. Most human appendages can only rotate less than 180 degrees, so a well-placed linear actuator can provide significant power in a compact size. The main dilemna with linear actuators is their speed. In the way of fluidity of motion (natural movements), there really are no commercial options available yet (unless you look into industrial robot servos used in assembly robots), though most R&D institutions seem to include damping. A simple robot that seemed to have very natural motion used the pendulum effect. Many larger humanoids still use DC motors with encoders. An ultralight frame actuated using Muscle Wires® (using pulleys or other mechanical edge to amplify the motion) may also be considered. The humanoid robot in the movie “I, Robot” for example essentially simulated using air muscles. These air muscles most closely mimic human muscles.