Development of an artistic robot “Jumping Joe”

In this paper, the concept and design of a newly developed artistic robot “J2: Jumping Joe” are discussed. The main objective of the robot is to realize acrobatic motions such as jumping, rolling and somersault to extend the field of robot activity. In order to realize the artistic robot, four kinds of special actuators, Inertia Actuator, Parallel Hip Joint, Lever-crank Knee Joint and Cam Charger are installed. Each actuator is developed as a function module including micro-controllers for easy debugging.