Design of a Biomimetic Joint-Covering Skin with Tissue-Like Structure to Enhance Proprioception in a Musculoskeletal Humanoid

2026-08-24

AI Summary

研究设计了一种模仿生物组织结构的关节覆盖皮肤，通过集成压力和拉伸感应元件来增强肌肉骨骼人形机器人的本体感觉，实验表明其能有效提高关节角度估计精度。

Abstract

Proprioception in musculoskeletal humanoids is typically estimated primarily from muscle sensing, while the role of cutaneous deformation around joints remains insufficiently explored. In biological systems, mechanoreceptors distributed within soft tissue complement muscle feedback and support reliable joint state estimation. This study presents the design of a biomimetic joint-covering skin with a tissue-like layered structure that integrates pressure- and stretch-sensitive elements within the joint-covering tissue. The proposed skin is implemented on the musculoskeletal humanoid Musashi-W, and its independent proprioceptive capability as well as its integration with muscle sensing are evaluated. Experimental results show that the proposed skin alone achieves joint angle estimation with an average error of approximately 3 degrees. Furthermore, integration with muscle sensing improves estimation accuracy. Owing to its joint-covering structure, the skin may mechanically mitigate the influence of external disturbances on the muscles, and the integration of multiple modalities suggests the possibility of contributing to the identification of external stimuli that are difficult to interpret using muscle sensing alone. This work presents a design methodology for biomimetic joint-covering skin and demonstrates that such tissue-structured skin can serve as an effective approach for extending proprioceptive systems in musculoskeletal humanoids.

Problem

• Proprioception
• Musculoskeletal Humanoids
• Biomimetic Skin
• Joint State Estimation
• Mechanoreceptors

Innovation

• Biomimetic Joint-Covering Skin
• Tissue-Like Structure
• Proprioception
• Musculoskeletal Humanoids