ANDy: Antropomorphic Natural Dynamics

Though humanoid robots are being produced in increasing quantity and variety they are still often controlled by the same methods of their industrial counterparts, with large unpredictable movements of redundant joints.

This project aims to generate more human like motion from anthropomorphic (humanoid) robots by imposing an anatomically inspired control scheme based on human muscle location, grouping and response.

By having such a model running alongside the robot’s primary motion controller the robot constrains its motion for maximum efficiency. This produces movement trajectories that appear lifelike while still permitting the primary controller to execute useful tasks.

The control scheme is implemented in the form of a novel nonlinear controller based on a dynamic model of the robot system. This creates a general system where a practical application has been achieved through a controller grounded in theoretical mathematics.

Figure 1: Interacting with the BERUL robot

Designing a robot to move in a human-like way is intended to improve human-robot interaction for the next generation of robotic applications where robots are envisaged to work in close proximity to humans and elements of trust and predictability are linked to efficient working and safety.