A Muscle Motion Solenoid Actuator

Abstract It is one of our dreams to mechanically recover lost body capabilities for damaged humans. Realistic humanoid robots composed of such machines require muscle motion actuators controlled by all pulling actions. In particular, antagonistic pairs of bi‐articular muscles are very important in animal motions. A system of actuators is proposed using the electromagnetic force of solenoids with a stroke length of over 10 cm and a strength of about 20 N, which are needed to move the real human arm. The devised actuators are based on the development of recent modern electromagnetic materials, where traditional materials cannot give such a possibility. Composite actuators are controlled by a high‐capability computer and software to perform genuine motions. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 184(2): 10–19, 2013; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22369