R. Van Ham, B. Vanderborght, M. Van Damme, B. Verrelst and D. Lefeber (2006). "MACCEPA: the mechanically adjustable compliance and controllable equilibrium position actuator for 'controlled passive walking'

Summary

Main idea

Robots can be stiff and rigid, but that is not the only option that one has when creating a robot. In order to make robots move more human-like, a mechanism is introduced where actuators with "adaptive compliance" are created tested: “Nowadays, more and more research groups working on bipeds have started to believe that natural biped walking is a combination of both approaches, requiring actuators with adaptable compliance (inverse of stiffness), resulting in energy efficient walking at different speeds.”