Tohoku University mechanical reflex module enables bipedal walking
What happened
A team at Tohoku University in Japan has developed a reflex module for musculoskeletal robots that requires no electronic sensors or circuits: when an artificial muscle is stretched beyond a set threshold, the module mechanically detects this within its physical structure and automatically contracts the muscle, inspired by human muscle spindles. After integrating the module into a robot, the team reproduced the knee-jerk reflex. On this basis, the team added a high-level control system that adjusts the reflex activation threshold according to the movement phase, enabling the robot to achieve bipedal walking. The team says the next step is to combine the mechanical reflex module with minimal electronic control to develop robots with more artificial muscles.
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- Tech Xplore RoboticsTohoku University develops electronics-free mechanical reflex module, reproduces knee-jerk reflex and achieves bipedal walking
A team at Tohoku University has developed a mechanical reflex module that requires no electronic sensors or circuits. Integrated into a musculoskeletal robot, it reproduced the knee-jerk reflex, and combined with high-level control that adjusts activation thresholds according to movement phase, it achieved bipedal walking. The module integrates sensing, computation, and actuation within its physical structure: it mechanically detects when an artificial muscle is stretched beyond a threshold and contracts automatically, inspired by human muscle spindles.
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