Cellular Actuators: Modularity and Variability in Muscle-Inspired Actuation describes the roles actuators play in robotics and their insufficiency in emerging new robotic applications, such as wearable devices and human co-working robots where compactness and compliance are important. Piezoelectric actuators, the topic of this book, provide advantages like displacement scale, force, reliability, and compactness, and rely on material properties to provide displacement and force as reactions to electric stimulation. The authors, renowned researchers in the area, present the fundamentals of muscle-like movement and a system-wide study that includes the design, analysis, and control of biologically inspired actuators. This book is the perfect guide for researchers and practitioners who would like to deploy this technology into their research and products. - Introduces Piezoelectric Actuators concepts in a system wide integrated approach - Acts as a single source for the design, analysis, and control of actuator arrays - Presents applications to illustrate concepts and the potential of the technology - Details the physical assembly possibilities of Piezo actuators - Presents fundamentals of bio inspired actuation - Introduces the concept of cellular actuators

Human Modelling for Bio-inspired Robotics: Mechanical Engineering in Assistive Technologies presents the most cutting-edge research outcomes in the area of mechanical and control aspects of human functions for macro-scale (human size) applications. Intended to provide researchers both in academia and industry with key content on which to base their developments, this book is organized and written by senior experts in their fields. Human Modeling for Bio-Inspired Robotics: Mechanical Engineering in Assistive Technologies offers a system-level investigation into human mechanisms that inspire the development of assistive technologies and humanoid robotics, including topics in modelling of anatomical, musculoskeletal, neural and cognitive systems, as well as motor skills, adaptation and integration. Each chapter is written by a subject expert and discusses its background, research challenges, key outcomes, application, and future trends. This book will be especially useful for academic and industry researchers in this exciting field, as well as graduate-level students to bring them up to speed with the latest technology in mechanical design and control aspects of the area. Previous knowledge of the fundamentals of kinematics, dynamics, control, and signal processing is assumed. - Presents the most recent research outcomes in the area of mechanical and control aspects of human functions for macro-scale (human size) applications - Covers background information and fundamental concepts of human modelling - Includes modelling of anatomical, musculoskeletal, neural and cognitive systems, as well as motor skills, adaptation, integration, and safety issues - Assumes previous knowledge of the fundamentals of kinematics, dynamics, control, and signal processing

In this chapter, the trunk-twistless walk of contact sport athletes was described from a motion measurement and the trunk-twistless walk was analyzed by using the mathematical model. The proposed optimal relative phase of the swing leg and the pelvic rotation was applied to the walk of humanoid HRP-2. The walking action including the momentum compensation was completed only by the lower body, so that the upper body DOF can be used for accomplishing a task. Using the proposed walk, the stance foot torque and the energy consumption were both reduced. The future work includes an evaluation of the energy efficiency of the trunk-twistless walk, both in humanoids and human. An optimization program for an efficient walking pattern should be investigated. The authors wish to thank Kenji Shirae and Atsutoshi Ikeda of Nara Institute of Science and Technology for the data processing required for this research.

In this chapter, the trunk-twistless walk of contact sport athletes was investigated from a motion measurement. The antiphase pelvic rotation was applied to the fast walk of humanoid HRP-2.The walking action including the momentum compensation was.