Investigation of Thermal Recognition and Control Techniques Using Robot’s Self-heating Actuator

-Toward the Realization of a Robotic Blood Circulation System-

Abstract

This study proposes a circulating water system with human blood circulation capacity to utilize the robot’s self-heating effectively. Water channels (robot’s blood vessels) are embedded in the skin covering the robot, controlling and managing the thermal conditions of the robot system. In the process of dissipating the heat generated by the actuator, the heat is transferred to the robot skin in contact with people and objects to enable recognition of the target materials and give a pleasant warmth for human interaction. The proposed method is an innovative way to solve two traditional problems: ”how to avoid overheating of the actuator” and ”how to improve robot skin’s perception ability.”