Actuators are the “muscles” of robots — the components that convert stored energy into mechanical motion, allowing the robot to move, grasp, walk, and interact with the world. Common types include electric motors (the most widespread), hydraulic systems for high force, pneumatic artificial muscles that…
Continue reading...Degrees of freedom (DoF) refer to the number of independent movements a robotic joint or entire system can make. A simple hinge joint has one DoF — it can only rotate in a single plane. A human arm has roughly seven degrees of freedom, allowing…
Continue reading...Robotic bodies are the physical hardware platforms — frames, limbs, joints, and materials — that give embodied agents their form and movement capabilities. From simple wheeled bases and tracked vehicles to humanoid torsos, quadruped legs, or soft continuum arms, the body design dramatically influences what…
Continue reading...Morphological computation is the idea that a robot’s body shape, materials, and mechanical properties can perform computations or simplify control tasks, reducing the burden on the central brain. Instead of the controller calculating every tiny detail of movement or interaction, the physical structure itself handles…
Continue reading...Affordances are the possibilities for action that an environment offers to an agent based on its body and capabilities. A chair affords sitting for an adult human, climbing for a small child, or stepping on for reaching high shelves. The same object offers very different…
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