What’s the Future Role for Humanoid Robots?

However, companies are now using humanoid robots to fill engineering tasks. A four-year joint research project was conducted by Joint Robotics Laboratory and Airbus Group to use humanoid robotic technology in aircraft manufacturing facilities. By using humanoid robots on aircraft assembly lines, Airbus looks to relieve human operators of some of the more laborious and dangerous tasks. The human employers could then concentrate on higher value tasks. The primary difficulty is the confined spaces these robots have to work in and being able to move without colliding with the surrounding objects.

The Joint Robotics Laboratory developed the new HRP-2 and HRP-4 robot models with a new robotic movement technology known as multi-contact locomotion. By making use of its entire body to make contact with its environment, and not just its feet, this type of robot can climb ladders and enter confined spaces. The multiple points of contact on the robot help to increase a robot's stability and offers better force control when executing a task. Lastly, the anthropomorphic form of these robots offers greater flexible for operating in different environments.

NASA is using its Valkyrie robot for similar tasks, albeit on future missions to Mars. Valkyrie is a 6-2 humanoid robot weighing 300 lb. The robot’s brain is powered by two Intel Core i7 computers, and the head houses lidar sensors, cameras, and a Multisense SL camera to continually scan the surrounding objects and environments. The Multisense camera combines laser, 3D stereo, and video to sense the environment. Hazard cameras look ahead and behind from the torso to detect possible dangers.

But the real value of Valkyrie is in its hands. Professor Taskin Padir from Northeastern University and his research team have been in charge of creating human like flexibility to the robot’s hands. “NASA’s Valkyrie has three fingers and a thumb on each hand,” says Padir. “Each digit has knuckle-like joints, and each hand has a wrist that can rotate easily. We’re working on creating motions—combinations of arm, wrist, finger, and thumb movements that collectively accomplish a task, like moving a wrench in a circle to tighten a bolt, or pulling a cart from one place to another.”

The ultimate goal of a robots like Valkyrie is to man the future mission to Mars. They can be sent on scouting missions to the planet and used to set up living compounds, maintaining power  and life support systems for future manned missions.

At Columbia University, engineers are finding new ways to replicate human muscle. They have created a synthetic muscle that can lift a thousand times its own weight, push, pull, bend, and twist. The muscle is a 3D printed mixture of silicone rubber matrix with ethanol distributed throughout in micro-bubbles, and does not require an external compressor or high voltage electrical equipment to operate. The muscle is electrically moved by using a thin resistive wire and is low-power (only 8 V).

Professor Hod Lipson, the team’s leader, says soft material robotics hold “great promise” for areas where a softer touch is required. Unlike rigid robots, soft robots can replicate natural motion, including grasping and manipulation of objects. These new muscles can be used to provide medical and other types of assistance, perform delicate tasks, or pick up soft objects.

“Rather than making each robot a custom machine tailored for a very specific task, we need to design multi-use robots—or even such capable machines that they might be called “general purpose”good for almost any task,” says Padir. “Achieving this goal also involves inventing new designs that incorporate hard and soft elements —the way human bone gives strength to a grip, with skin spreading the pressure so [even] a wine glass doesn’t shatter.”