HUMANOIDS

Robotics is the science and technology of Robots, including their design, manufacture and applications. The world of robotic technology is constantly evolving. Robots are expanding the boundaries of human experience - exploring the depths of sea, the unknowns of outer space, and the intricacies of the human body. They are transforming industry by reducing cycle time, improving part quality, and increasing profits all over the globe. This paper focuses on one of the very important aspect of Robotics i.e. HUMANOIDS. Replicating human thought has been the goal of robotic inventors for centuries, from cutting edge science of NASA to the different innovations of Japanese engineers; the objective of all is the same mimicking the human form and brain and this task has been accomplished by inventing HUMANOIDS. A humanoid is a robot or we can also say an anthropomorphic robot with its overall appearance, based on that of the human body, which allows interaction with different human environments. In general humanoid robots have the body structure just like humans i.e. a head, two arms and two legs, although some forms of humanoid robots may model only part of the body, for example, from the waist up. Some humanoid robots may also have a 'face', with 'eyes' and 'mouth'. Androids are special kinds of humanoid robots built to aesthetically resemble a human. Humanoids try to simulate the human structure and behavior and they are autonomous systems, generally humanoid robots are more complex than other kinds of robots. There are various capabilities of humanoids, some as mentioned below: self-maintenance (like recharging itself) autonomous learning avoiding harmful situations to people, property, and itself safe interacting with human beings and the environment There are basically three primitives of Robotics: - Sensors, Actuators and Planning and control. A sensor is a device that measures some attribute of the world. These can be classified by the physical process they work or by the output they give. Actuators are the motors responsible for motion in the robot. In planning and control, the essential difference between humanoids and other kinds of robots (like industrial ones) is that the movement of the robot has to be humanlike, using legged locomotion, especially biped gait. The ideal planning for humanoid movements during normal walking should result in minimum energy consumption, like it does in the human body. For this reason, studies on dynamics and control of these kinds of structures become more and more important.

The basic purpose of this paper is to throw light on Humanoids", their purpose, their kinds and the techniques for their design and control.