Among various types of robots there are a kind of robots called“performance robots, ”which, unlike industrial robots which are aimed to do some useful work, just express acts, make gestures or communicates, instead of doing actual work.
This article is a report on the writer's studies on this kind of robots. It analyzes the significance of performance robots, and on this bases discusses the image, idea and sketches of performance robots, from the standpoint that esthetic design or styling is more important than functional design in designing such robots. Then, the writer proceeds to design hardware and presents the specifications and performance of a test-manufactured robot.
The test-manufactured robot operates with shape-memory alloy actuators, the use of which makes it possible to achieve soft movements. Furthermore, the writer analyzes the significance of the robots that do not work, and also studies the development of their application areas.