Design of a Humanoid Robot Eye

This chapter addresses the design of a robot eye featuring the mechanics and motion characteristics of a human one. In particular the goal is to provide guidelines for the implementation of a tendon driven robot capable to emulate saccadic motions. In the first part of this chapter the physiological and mechanical characteristics of the eyeplant1 in humans and primates will be reviewed. Then, the fundamental motion strategies used by humans during saccadic motions will be discussed, and the mathematical formulation of the relevant Listing\u2019s Law and Half-Angle Rule, which specify the geometric and kinematic characteristics of ocular saccadic motions, will be introduced

Humanoid Robots

For many years, the human being has been trying, in all ways, to recreate the complex mechanisms that form the human body. Such task is extremely complicated and the results are not totally satisfactory. However, with increasing technological advances based on theoretical and experimental researches, man gets, in a way, to copy or to imitate some systems of the human body. These researches not only intended to create humanoid robots, great part of them constituting autonomous systems, but also, in some way, to offer a higher knowledge of the systems that form the human body, objectifying possible applications in the technology of rehabilitation of human beings, gathering in a whole studies related not only to Robotics, but also to Biomechanics, Biomimmetics, Cybernetics, among other areas. This book presents a series of researches inspired by this ideal, carried through by various researchers worldwide, looking for to analyze and to discuss diverse subjects related to humanoid robots. The presented contributions explore aspects about robotic hands, learning, language, vision and locomotion