[Tyler]

The Math Behind Human Beings
     

A recent Scientific
Computing article describes new
mathematical techniques being used by researchers to model human
movement and duplicate it in robots. The article talks about math behind
the Waseda
bipedal humanoid (WABIAN) robots developed by Atsuo
Takanishi
at the Takanishi
Lab of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Also mentioned is the 12 DOF
bipedal model developed by Asif
Mughal at the Control
Systems Lab of the University of Arkansas.
Software advances in transforming and solving differential algebraic
equations (DAEs) are also contributing to improved robot movement. The
article concludes, "Although the talking, overly-emotional robot of
our movies may still be a few years away, a robot that can walk and
carry our grand-parents' groceries may be only a few differential
equations away."
   

http://robots.net/article/2433.html