Humanoid Robots and Control

Abstract

Humanoid robots are designed with similar structural forms as their biological counterparts. Various motivations exist for such a choice, from the diversity of tasks that can be performed to the potential with which such a robot may integrate into (and make use of) an environment that has already been designed around humans. This introductory chapter highlights some of the basic concepts of humanoid robots, further explaining the benefits and challenges associated with human-like motion and physical interaction. The chapter introduces useful robotic manipulator fundamentals, such as forward and inverse kinematics and dynamic modelling of manipulators. Towards the end of the chapter, the robotic platforms used as the basis of work in this book are presented, along with associated technical detail.