Arms/Motor Control

  Arms/Motor Control

Reflex Withdrawal

Infants have a number of reflexes that are inhibited later in development. One of these reflexes, the withdrawal reflex, causes the arm to withdrawal if the top of the hand is touched. In this clip, the first revision arm has been fitted with a simple claw-shaped hand with touch-sensitive pads. As the arm reaches out, the touch pads trigger a reflex withdrawal.

A Safety Demonstration

Most robotic arms are designed for power and speed, which generally results in systems that are not safe to interact with. We avoid this problem by using a compliant arm based upon series elastic actuators. These arms are safe enough for us to interact with directly, as can be seen in this clip.

Cog's New Arms

This video clip shows the first footage of the second revision of Cog's arms. Cog now has both a left and a right arm, both based upon the series elastic actuator design. The first clip shows the new arms and their range of motion

The second clip demonstrates the natural dynamics of the arms. The arms are powered on, but are not receiving any motion commands. The motion that you see in this clip is the result of manually twisting the shoulders.

Oscillator-Driven Motor Control

One of the motor control techniques that our group has been experimenting with is the use of coupled oscillators. This clip shows the second revision ams being driven by coupled oscillators.

Representatives of the press who are interested in acquiring further information about the Cog project should contact Elizabeth Thomson, thomson@mit.edu, from the MIT News Office,  http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www/ .