Study on new face robot platform for robot-human communication

The objective of this study is to investigate the intelligence of communication of the intelligent machine such as a human-friendly robot working in the environment where human and robot coexist. For this purpose, it seems necessary to create a human friendly robot that can communicate with human beings as a test bed and/or platform. Since the face and facial expressions are very crucial for communication, we develop a face robot which has a human-like face and can express facial expressions similar to human being. The important factors of face robot for coexistence and communication with humans are: 1) small and compact, and 2) easy to control. Air cylinders with pressurized air have previously been used for the robot´s face, to accomplish these two factors. In this paper we attempt to use SMA (shaped memory alloy) actuators driven by electricity. We present the prototype of the new SMA-actuated face robot and show the typical ability that can be achieved