Geerhead - Sep 12 r1.qxd 8/8/2012 11:20 AM Page 10
by David Geer
Contact the author at geercom@windstream.net
Discuss this article in the SERVO Magazine forums at http://forum.servomagazine.com
RIT TigerBot:
A Platform for
Medical Research
10 SERVO 09.2012
Arobust control system was designed to process commands, sensing, and servo motion. The
electromechanical body is comprised of links and joints that
use servo motors to ensure complete human motion.
TigerBot is comprised of three control devices, an aluminum
sheet metal body, motion libraries with linked commands,
and various sensors.
Specialized brackets and differently torqued servos
allow for complete unrestricted motion of the robot. The
control system is divided into two specific devices: a servo
controller and a sensor processor.
The servo controller is used to provide human-like
motion to the body. The sensor processor is used to process
information from sensors and update the intelligence
system of the external environment. The intelligence system
is used to perform more complex functions of a human,
TigerBot is an autonomous humanoid
robot platform capable of interacting
with users through speech
recognition. TigerBot is an attempt at
mimicking human movement and
behavior. The purpose of this student
built project from RIT (Rochester
Institute of Technology) was to create
a robot capable of both human
movement and interaction. Therefore,
TigerBot was designed with the
ability to humanly move, be
controlled autonomously, resist a fall
with the ability to recover, and have
at least 20 degrees of freedom in
motion. Dr. Ferat Sahin, of the
Electrical Engineering Dept at RIT,
facilitated the project with specific
product requirements and team
guidance.
