Design and Testing of a New LARMbot Torso

Abstract

Developing a robotic torso mechanism is crucial in replicating human mobility in humanoid robots. Previous research has presented the LARMbot humanoid's torso as a potential solution, which has now been improved with a novel design proposed in this paper. We conduct a kinematic analysis on the proposed LARMbot torso design, which is developed through an analysis of the human spine's structure. A kinematic model of the novel design is proposed using piecewise constant curvature to capture the relationship between input and output parameters and to represent the workspace. A prototype is utilized for conducting experiments to test the human-like movements of the novel mechanism. The outcomes show that the proposed LARMbot torso architecture can enhance performance. The generated humanoid torso prototype has the capacity to bend approximately 30 deg, and as such, it can be expected to make humanoid robots achieve human-like motion and tasks.