Design and Kinematic Analysis of a Novel Humanoid Robot Eye Using Pneumatic Artificial Muscles

This paper proposed a novel humanoid robot eye, which is driven by six Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (PAMs) and rotates with 3 Degree of Freedom (DOF). The design of the mechanism and motion type of the robot eye are inspired by that of human eyes. The model of humanoid robot eye is established as a parallel mechanism, and the inverse-kinematic problem of this flexible tendons driving parallel system is solved by the analytical geometry method. As an extension, the simulation result for saccadic movement is presented under three conditions. The design and kinematic analysis of the prototype could be a significant step towards the goal of building an autonomous humanoid robot eye with the movement and especially the visual functions similar to that of human.