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Biologically Inspired Robotics
A humanoid neck system that can effectively mimic the motion of a
human neck with very low motion noises is presented in this chapter.
The low-motion–noise humanoid neck system is based on the spring
structure and is cable driven, which can generate 3 degrees of freedom
of neck movement. To guarantee the low-noise feature, no noisemakers like motors, gearboxes, and electrodriven parts are embedded in the
head–neck structure. Instead, the motions are driven by six polyester
cables, and the actuators winching the cables are sealed in a sound insulation box. Statics analysis and control strategy of the system is discussed.
Experimental results clearly show that the head–neck system can greatly
mimic the motions of human head with an A-weighted noise level of 30
dB or below.
6.1 Introduction
The use of donning respirators or chemical-resistant jackets for some emergent conditions or during performing some special tasks is required. Most
current donning respirators or chemical-resistant jackets unavoidably generate acoustic noises when the user moves his head/neck. These noises
strongly interfere with the user’s hearing even when using head-worn wireless communication equipment. Thus, it is necessary to develop a testing
wearable audio system. Many companies have created systems for testing
headphones and cell phones such as KEMAR manikins (G.R.A.S. Sound &
Vibration, www.gras.dk). But the movements of the manikins are very limited and cannot be used to test the interaction of the audio system with other
systems such as overcoats. This chapter will focus on the design and control of a low-noise biomimetic humanoid neck system, which can be used
to investigate the level of acoustic noises produced by the interactive motion
between wearable equipment and the human head/neck to facilitate the use
of head-worn communication devices.
Although many humanoid neck mechanisms have been developed by different institutions, they can be divided into two categories; that is, the serial
neck and parallel neck. Serial necks are the more common mechanisms
due to their simple structure and the ease of DC motor control. The HRP-2
(Hirukawa et al. 2004) has a two-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) serial neck
including pitch and yaw. The Albert HUBO (Park et al. 2008), the Dav (Han et
al. 2002), and the iCub (Beira et al. 2006) have 3-DOF serial necks. The WE-4
(Miwa et al. 2002), the ARMAR-III (Albers et al. 2006), the WABIAN-RIV
(Carbone et al. 2006), and the ROMAN (Hirth, Schmitz, and Berns 2007)
have 4-DOF serial necks. The parallel neck can be divided into three subcategories; that is, Stewart-like necks, spring-based necks, and spherical necks.
The main structure of Stewart-like necks is a Stewart platform (Beira et al.
2006), which needs a passive spine and is controlled by several legs with a
Biologically Inspired Robotics
A humanoid neck system that can effectively mimic the motion of a
human neck with very low motion noises is presented in this chapter.
The low-motion–noise humanoid neck system is based on the spring
structure and is cable driven, which can generate 3 degrees of freedom
of neck movement. To guarantee the low-noise feature, no noisemakers like motors, gearboxes, and electrodriven parts are embedded in the
head–neck structure. Instead, the motions are driven by six polyester
cables, and the actuators winching the cables are sealed in a sound insulation box. Statics analysis and control strategy of the system is discussed.
Experimental results clearly show that the head–neck system can greatly
mimic the motions of human head with an A-weighted noise level of 30
dB or below.
6.1 Introduction
The use of donning respirators or chemical-resistant jackets for some emergent conditions or during performing some special tasks is required. Most
current donning respirators or chemical-resistant jackets unavoidably generate acoustic noises when the user moves his head/neck. These noises
strongly interfere with the user’s hearing even when using head-worn wireless communication equipment. Thus, it is necessary to develop a testing
wearable audio system. Many companies have created systems for testing
headphones and cell phones such as KEMAR manikins (G.R.A.S. Sound &
Vibration, www.gras.dk). But the movements of the manikins are very limited and cannot be used to test the interaction of the audio system with other
systems such as overcoats. This chapter will focus on the design and control of a low-noise biomimetic humanoid neck system, which can be used
to investigate the level of acoustic noises produced by the interactive motion
between wearable equipment and the human head/neck to facilitate the use
of head-worn communication devices.
Although many humanoid neck mechanisms have been developed by different institutions, they can be divided into two categories; that is, the serial
neck and parallel neck. Serial necks are the more common mechanisms
due to their simple structure and the ease of DC motor control. The HRP-2
(Hirukawa et al. 2004) has a two-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) serial neck
including pitch and yaw. The Albert HUBO (Park et al. 2008), the Dav (Han et
al. 2002), and the iCub (Beira et al. 2006) have 3-DOF serial necks. The WE-4
(Miwa et al. 2002), the ARMAR-III (Albers et al. 2006), the WABIAN-RIV
(Carbone et al. 2006), and the ROMAN (Hirth, Schmitz, and Berns 2007)
have 4-DOF serial necks. The parallel neck can be divided into three subcategories; that is, Stewart-like necks, spring-based necks, and spherical necks.
The main structure of Stewart-like necks is a Stewart platform (Beira et al.
2006), which needs a passive spine and is controlled by several legs with a