In this paper, a novel design approach for the development of robot hands is presented. This approach, that can be considered alternative to the “classical” one, takes into consideration compliant structures instead of rigid ones. Compliance effects, which were considered in the past as a “defect” to be mechanically eliminated, can be viceversa regarded as desired features and can be properly c...

In its attempt to offer new ways into autonomy for a large population of disabled people, assistive technology has largely been inspired by robotics engineering. Recent human-like robots carry new hopes that it seems to us necessary to analyze by means of a specific theory of anthropomorphism. We propose to distinguish a functional anthropomorphism which is the one of actual wheelchairs from a ...

We spontaneously tend to project animacy and sensitivity inanimate objects sometimes we attribute distinctively human features like intelligence, goals, reasons certain artificial devices. This phenomenon is called “anthropomorphism” has been long studied by researchers in human-robot interaction social-robotics. These studies are particularly important from the perspective of recent developmen...

In this work we take a new approach to the determination of the quantified contribution of various attributes of the human hand to its dexterity, with the aim of transposing this knowledge into supportive guidelines for the design of anthropomorphic robotic and prosthetic hands. We have carried out a number of standard dexterity tests on normal human subjects with various physical constraints a...

Utilizing exoskeleton devices to help elderly or empower workers is a growing field of research in robotics. The structure an can vary depending on user’s physical dimensions, joints muscles targeted for assistance, and maximum achievable actuator torque. In this research, Human-Model-In-the-Loop (HMIL) constrained optimization technique proposed design the RoboWalk lower-limb exoskeleton. unde...

In its attempt to offer new ways into autonomy for a large population of disabled people, assistive technology has largely been inspired by robotics engineering. Recent human-like robots carry new hopes that it seems to us necessary to analyze by means of a specific theory of anthropomorphism. We propose to distinguish a functional anthropomorphism which is the one of actual wheelchairs from a ...

This paper presents some of the ground mobile robots under development at the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at Virginia Tech that use biologically inspired novel locomotion strategies. By studying nature's models and then imitating or taking inspiration from these designs and processes, we apply and implement new ways for mobile robots to move. Unlike most ground mobile robots tha...

With the aim of fluency and efficiency in human-robot teams, we have developed a cognitive architecture based on the neuro-psychological principles of anticipation and perceptual simulation through top-down biasing. An instantiation of this architecture was implemented on a non-anthropomorphic robotic lamp, performing in a human-robot collaborative task. In a human-subject study, in which the r...

One of robot designers' main goals is to make robots as sociable as possible. Aside from improving robots' actual social functions, a great deal of effort is devoted to making them appear lifelike. This is often achieved by endowing the robot with an anthropomorphic body. However, psychological research on the perception of animacy suggests another crucial factor that might also contribute to a...