RoboThespian is a life-sized humanoid robot designed for human interaction in a public place. Being fully interactive, multilingual and user-friendly, it offers a new and memorable way to communicate and entertain. It was designed by Engineered Arts, which has a worldwide reputation as a developer of full-size humanoid robots for communications, research and entertainment.
Leading-edge features include motion capture, object recognition and telepresence. Over 40 RoboThespians are now installed in 14 countries around the world. Simple to operate and maintain, they are trusted by national science centres including NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visitor attractions, commercial users and academic research institutions.
RoboThespian has over 26 axes, powered by a mixture of pneumatic and servo actuators. In order to make its behaviour and movements as human-like and smooth as possible, and assure long service life, high reliability and easy serviceability, RoboThespian is fitted with igus iglidur bearings on all rotating shafts. This has enabled its movements and gestures to be more fluid and friction-free, giving a convincing and human-like performance.
Lightweight, maintenance-free iglidur J and G polymer bearings are used on all rotational shafts – 85 in total. The low friction, small size and lightweight iglidur bearings complement the anodised aerospace grade aluminium components used throughout RoboThespian; they form the basis for the smooth human-like movements and gesturing now evident whenever RoboThespian is in action.
“We have a great relationship with the people at igus and receive a first-class service from them,” comments Marcus Hold, Design & Production Engineer at Engineered Arts. “The products are of excellent quality and are reliable which is of the utmost importance to us, as our humanoid robots are required to perform daily without fail in busy public environments.”
Hold continues: “The impact of the iglidur bearings on RoboThespian’s performance is just as important – without igus, he wouldn’t be able to move in the smooth way he does today.”