Development of a new linear actuator for androids

In order to realize androids and humanoids that have very humanlike mechanisms and movements, the development of new linear actuators is necessary. In the development of the actuators, we have found a structure of the linear actuator that is more powerful and quick through iterative simulations based on the 3D finite element method and developed the prototype. This paper reports the structure and various simulations of the new linear actuator. We consider this new actuator will be one of the important components of robots, such as androids and humanoids.