A humanoid robot, dubbed Torobo and developed by robot manufacturer Tokyo Robotics, can reportedly hammer a nail into a piece of wood, thereby demonstrating its potential for industrial use cases.
“The instantaneous rebound force from the hammer is absorbed through a combination of the elasticity of the rubber material securing the hammer, the deflection in torque sensors and harmonic gears, backdrivability, and impedance control. This allows the nail to be driven with a certain amount of force,” explained Tokyo Robotics.

Source: Tokyo RoboticsSource: Tokyo Robotics

Torobo, which stands at 1,660 mm tall and possesses a 680 mm reach, features torque sensors at all of the joints of its arms and waist, and the joint torque control allows for safe contact stops and force-controlling task executions. As such, assembly tasks, cooking and physical interaction with humans can be conducted in a safer and more skillful way, according to the company.

Tokyo Robotics added that Torobo features a joint configuration of seven axis dual arms, three axis waist (pitch, pitch, yaw), three axis neck (yaw, pitch, roll) and four axis undercarriage (omni-directional mobile base) that allows the robot to accomplish tasks with a range of motion similar to human beings.

Torobo is being eyed for research on automated tasks that involve active contact with people, the environment and objects, as well as for research on applications for next-gen force-controllable dual-armed robots, and research on applying machine learning to robots.

To see Torobo hammer a nail, watch the accompanying video that appears courtesy of Tokyo Robotics.

To contact the author of this article, email mdonlon@globalspec.com