Integrated application of CAD/CAM/CAE and RP for rapid development of a humanoid biped robot

The present work concerns the hardware development of a mid-size humanoid robot, Bonobo, focusing on the use of an integrated application of CAD/CAM/CAE and rapid prototyping (RP) for the rapid development of the robot's outer body parts. Most parts were three-dimensionally designed with 3D CAD, which enables effective connection with CAE analyses, the basis of which lays in kinematic simulation and structural analysis. To reduce the lead time and investment cost of developing parts, RP and CAM are selectively used to manufacture master parts for the body. These master parts are then replicated by using a vacuum casting process, from which we can repeatedly obtain plastic parts. Through this integrated approach, we successfully developed a prototype of Bonobo with a relatively low time and investment cost. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.