This paper endeavours to bridge the existing gap in muscular actuator design for ligament-skeletal-inspired robots, thereby fostering the evolution of these robotic systems. We introduce two novel compliant actuators, namely the Internal Torsion Spring Compliant Actuator (ICA) and the External Spring Compliant Actuator (ECA), and present a comparative analysis against the previously conceived Magnet Integrated Soft Actuator (MISA) through computational and experimental results. These actuators, employing a motor-tendon system, emulate biological muscle-like forms, enhancing artificial muscle technology. A robotic arm application inspired by the skeletal ligament system is presented. Experiments demonstrate satisfactory power in tasks like lifting dumbbells (peak power: 36W), playing table tennis (end-effector speed: 3.2 m/s), and door opening, without compromising biomimetic aesthetics. Compared to other linear stiffness serial elastic actuators (SEAs), ECA and ICA exhibit high power-to-volume (361 x 10^3 W/m) and power-to-mass (111.6 W/kg) ratios respectively, endorsing the biomimetic design's promise in robotic development.

翻译：本文旨在弥合韧带-骨骼仿生机器人中肌肉致动器设计的现有差距，从而推动这类机器人系统的发展。我们提出了两种新型柔性致动器——内部扭转弹簧柔性致动器（ICA）和外部弹簧柔性致动器（ECA），并通过计算与实验结果，与先前设计的磁集成软致动器（MISA）进行了对比分析。这些致动器采用电机-肌腱系统，模拟了生物肌肉般的形态，从而提升了人工肌肉技术。文中展示了一种受骨骼韧带系统启发的机械臂应用。实验表明，该机械臂在执行举哑铃（峰值功率：36W）、打乒乓球（末端执行器速度：3.2 m/s）以及开门等任务时，展现出令人满意的功率输出，且未牺牲仿生美学。与其他线性刚度串联弹性致动器（SEA）相比，ECA和ICA分别表现出高的功率体积比（361×10³ W/m³）和功率质量比（111.6 W/kg），证实了仿生设计在机器人发展中的前景。