Mechanical Design of Emotion Expression

Humanoid Robot WE-4RII

Kazuko Itoh 1 ,2, Hiroyasu Miwa 3,4,5, Massimiliano Zecca 2,4, Hideaki Takanobu 2,5,6,
Stefano Roccella 7, Maria Chiara Carrozza 2,7, Paolo Dario 2,7 and Atsuo Takanishi 1,2,4,5,8
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
2
RoboCasa, Tokyo, Japan
3
Digital Human Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
(AIST), Tokyo, Japan
4
Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ASMeW, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
5
Humanoid Robotics Institute (HRI), Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
6
Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Kogakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
7
ARTS Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pontedera, Italy
8
Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
e-mail: itoh@suou.waseda.jp (K. Itoh), takanisi@waseda,jp (A. Takanishi)

Abstract. A Personal Robot is expected to become popular in the future. It is required to be

active in joint work and community life with humans. Therefore, we have been developing
new mechanisms and functions for a humanoid robot that can express emotions and
communicate naturally with humans. In this paper, we present the mechanical design of the
Emotion Expression Humanoid Robot WE-4RII, which was developed by integrating the
*
Humanoid Robot Hands RCH-1 into the previous version WE-4R . The robot has four of
the five human senses for detecting external stimuli: visual, tactile, auditory and olfactory,
and 59-DOFs for expressing motion and emotions. It is capable of expressing seven basic
emotional patterns.

1 Introduction

Robots have become indispensable for human life. Most popular robots are of the industrial kind
with various functions, such as assembly and conveyance. However, we hope that personal robots
which are active in joint work and community life with humans will become popular in the future.
Such personal robots must adapt to partners and the environment and to communicate naturally
with humans. Therefore, new mechanisms and functions are developed in order to realize the
natural communication by expressing the emotions, behaviors and personality in a human-like
manner.
Research is being conducted into communication robots in the field of robotics. Breazeal and

*
We would like to thank the Humanoid Robotics Institute (HRI) consortium, General Directorate for
Cultural Promotion and Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ARTS Lab, NTT Docomo,
SolidWorks Corp. for their support. In addition, this research was supported by the Ministry of Education,
Science, Sports and Culture, Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (No. 17700211) and a Grant-in-Aid
for the WABOT-HOUSE Project by Gifu Prefecture.
Scassellati (1999) have developed an expressive robotic creature that expresses facial expressions
using its eyes, eyelids, eyebrows and mouth. It communicates with humans using visual
information from CCD cameras. Kobayashi and Hara (1996) have developed a head robot that
uses the fourteen Action Units of Ekman (see Ekman and Friesen, 1978). It can express six basic
facial expressions as quickly as human using 24-DOFs with air compressors for actuators. It can
also recognize human facial expressions using CCD cameras and reciprocate the same facial
expressions back.
We have been developing the humanoid robots from viewpoints of both robotics and
psychology in order to realize human-like motion. The Human-like Head Robot WE-3 (Waseda
Eye No.3) series have been developed as a mechanical model since 1995 (Miwa et al., 2002). So
far, we have achieved coordinated head-eye motion with V.O.R. (Vestibular-Ocular Reflex),
depth perception using the angle of convergence between the two eyes, adjustment to the
brightness of an object with the eyelids and four sensations, visual, auditory, cutaneous and
olfactory sensations. In addition, we produced emotional expressions using not only the face, but
also the upper body by the Emotion Expression Humanoid Robot WE-4 (Waseda Eye No.4)
series with the waist, 9-DOFs emotion expression humanoids arms (Itoh et al., 2004) and
humanoid robot hands RCH-1 (Robo Casa Hand No.1) (Zecca et al., 2006). Moreover, a mental
model was developed for humanoid robots based on psychology. We introduced the mental space
with three independent parameters, the mood, the second order equations of emotion, the robot
personality, the need model, consciousness model, behavior model and memory model (Itoh et al.,
2005) into the mental model. In this paper, we describe the mechanical features of the latest
Emotion Expression Humanoid Robot WE-4II (Waseda Eye No.4 Refined II).

2 Mechanical Hardware

Figure 1 presents the hardware overview of Emotion Expression Humanoid Robot WE-4RII. The
robot has 59 DOFs for expressing motions and emotions as shown in Table 1, and four of the five
human senses for detecting external stimuli: visual, auditory, olfactory and tactile. The height and
weight of its upper body are 970[mm] and 59.3[kg], respectively. The hand is the Humanoid

Table 1. DOFs
configuration of
Sensors Expressions WE-4RII.
Visual Eyebrows Part DOF
(CCD Camera) Neck 4
Auditory Eyelids
Eyes 3
(Microphone) Facial Color Eyelids 6
Olfactory Eyebrows 8
Lips
(Gas Sensor) Lips 4
Tactile Voice Jaw 1
(FSR) Lungs 1
Neck Waist 2
Temperature
(Thermistor) Arms 18
Hands 12
(a) Whole view (b) Head part Total 59
Figure 1. Emotion Expression Humanoid Robot WE-4RII.
 Upper Lid

Eye Yaw
Eyebrows
140[mm]

Eye Pitch
Motor
Lower Lid

Upper Lid

]
m
Roll
180[m [m
0 Pulley
13

m] Torsion Spring Outer Tube

CCD Cameras Lid Frames Clear Wire

Figure 2. Compact eye unit mechanism. Figure 3. Eyebrows mechanism.

Robot Hand RCH-1 (RoboCasa Hand No.1) which is designed and developed by ARTS Lab,
Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in order to express not only emotional expressions but also active
behavior.

2.1 Facial Mechanism

For miniaturization of the head, the Eye Unit was developed as shown in Figure 2. The weight in
the Eye Unit was reduced by adopting both a belt driven mechanism and a wire driven
mechanism, and the motor positions were optimized. Since, the eyeball pitch axis motion
mechanically synchronizes the opening and closing of upper eyelid motion, the coordinated
eyeball-eyelids motion is controlled by the hardware much easily.
In this Eye Unit, the eyeballs have 1-DOF for the pitch axis and 2-DOFs for the yaw axis. The
pitch axis is driven by a belt driven mechanism with a DC motor and a harmonic drive system.
The yaw axes are driven by a tendon driven mechanism with a DC motor and a torsion spring.
The maximum angular velocity of the eyeballs is similar to that of a human at 600[deg/s].
The eyelid consists of the upper eyelid and the lower eyelid. The upper eyelid has 1-DOF for
opening and closing and 1-DOF for rotating. The lower eyelid has 1-DOF for opening and
closing. The opening and closing motion of the upper and lower eyelids is driven by a tendon
driven mechanism using a DC motor, while the rotating motion of the upper eyelid is driven by a
direct driven mechanism with a DC motor. The maximum angular velocity of opening and
closing eyelids is 900 [deg/s]. The robot can blink within 0.3[s], which is as fast as a human can.
In addition, WE-4RII expresses its facial expression using its eyebrows, eyelids, lips, jaw,
facial color and voice. The eyebrows consist of flexible sponges, and each eyebrow has 4-DOFs
as shown in Figure 3. And, spindle-shaped springs were used for the lips. Their shape changes by
pulling in 4 directions, and they are opened and closed by the jaw motion. The facial color was
realized by using red and blue EL (Electro Luminescence) sheets, which were applied to the
cheeks. For the voice system, the robot has a small speaker set in the jaw. The voice is a synthetic
voice made by LaLaVoice 2001 (TOSHIBA Corporation).

2.2 Neck, Waist and Lungs

Figures 4, 5 and 6 show the neck, waist and lungs mechanism, respectively. The neck has 4-
DOFs, which are the upper pitch, the lower pitch, the roll and the yaw axes. The lower pitch is
 Yaw

Upper Pitch Yaw

Roll
Pitch

Lower Pitch

(Back View)

Figure 4. Neck mechanism. Figure 5. Waist mechanism. Figure 6. Lungs mechanism.

driven by a direct driven mechanism with an AC Shoulder

Base Yaw Shoulder
motor and a harmonic drive system. Other axes are Shoulder Pitch
driven by a direct driven mechanism with a harmonic Base Yaw
30[deg]
drive systems’ DC motor. The maximum angular
Shoulder
velocity of each axis is similar to that of a human at Base Roll Roll
160[deg/s]. Shoulder
The waist has 2-DOFs, the pitch and yaw axes.
The pitch axis is driven by a direct driven mechanism
with a harmonic drive systems’ DC motor, and the Pitch
yaw axis is driven by a belt driven mechanism with a
Elbow
DC motor and a harmonic drive system. The robot
pursues a target using not only coordinated head-eye
motion, but also coordinated waist-head-eye motion Roll
with V.O.R.
In addition, the robot has lungs in its chest. The Pitch
lungs consist of 2 sets of a cylinder and a piston, a Wrist
ball screw and a DC motor. WE-4RII can display
breathing motion, which expresses more emotional Yaw
motion in addition to breathing air for the olfactory
sensation. Figure 7. Arm configuration.

2.3 9-DOFs Emotion Expression Humanoid Arm

The 9-DOFs Emotion Expression Humanoid Arm is shown in Figure 7. It consists of the 2-DOFs
base shoulder, the 3-DOFs shoulder, the 1-DOF elbow and the 3-DOFs wrist. The yaw axis of the
base shoulder and 3 axes of the shoulder are driven by a direct driven mechanism with DC
motors and harmonic drive systems. Since the roll of the base shoulder requires large torque, a
direct driven mechanism with an AC motor and a harmonic drive system is adopted. The pitch
axis of the shoulder is leant at a 30-degree angle to avoid a singular point in a common use range.
The elbow adopts a belt driven mechanism, in which the output axis of a motor is connected to a
harmonic drive system by a timing belt. The wrist joints of the previous version WE-4R were
driven by DC motors with planetary gear system. The hand motion of WE-4R wasn’t stable since
 DC Motors
Harmonic
Drive System
Ball
Bearings Pulley
BODEN
DC Motor Cable

RCH-1
DC Motors

(a) Wrist mechanism (b) Actuator system of RCH-1

Figure 8. Improvement of arm mechanism.

Table
Table2.2 Sensors on WE-4RII
Sensors on WE-4RII.
Part Sensation Device Quantity
Visual CCD Camera 2
Auditory Microphone 2
Tactile FSR 26
Head Cutaneous Temperature Thermistor 1
Weight Current Sensor 2
Semiconductor
Olfactory 4
Gas Sensor
Tactile Contact Sensor 16
Hand Cutaneous Tactile FSR 4
Figure 9. RCH-1. Force 3D Force Sensor 2

there was too much backlash. Moreover, it was necessary to redesign the forearms for mounting
the finger’s motors. Therefore, we changed the gear system to small harmonic drive systems in
order to reduce the backlash and miniaturize the wrist mechanism. Especially, we designed the
link mechanism as shown in Figure 8(a) for the pitch axis of the wrist. The link mechanism
transmits the motor power with the two links, which were supported by four ball bearings to
reduce the slant caused between inner and outer rim.

2.4 Humanoid Robot Hand RCH-1

Figure 9 shows the humanoid robot hand RCH-1 (Zecca et al., 2006). RCH-1 is designed and
developed by ARTS Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. RCH-1 has five fingers and six active
DOFs and 10 passive DOFs. Each finger has 1-DOF for extension and flexion movement.
Moreover, the thumb has one more DOF for abduction and adduction movement. Extension and
flexion motions are driven by single cable actuated by a DC motor. RCH-1 can grasp an object
following the object shape by special mechanisms. Therefore, it is not necessary to independently
control all joints. Abduction and adduction motion are driven by direct driven mechanism with a
DC motor mounted inside the palm.
In order to integrate RCH-1 into WE-4R, the actuation system for extension and flexion of
RCH-1 has been mounted inside the forearm of WE-4RII as shown in Figure 8(b), thus
mimicking the position of flexor digitorum and extensor digitorum in the human forearm. The
fingers and motors are connected with thin wire in BODEN CABLE, which is an outer tube for
endoscopes.

3 Fore Sensations of WE-4RII

WE-4RII has visual, auditory, olfactory and tactile sensors on its head, and tactile sensors on
its hands as shown in Table 2. Regarding visual sensor, WE-4RII has two color CCD cameras
(CS6550, Tokyo Electronic Industry Co. Inc.) in its eyes. WE-4RII calculates the gravity and area
of the targets. The robot can recognize any color as the targets and it can recognize eight targets
at the same time. It also can recognize the distance from its eyes to the targets by the angle of
convergence between the two eyes. If there are multiple targets in the robot’s view, WE-4RII
autonomously selects a suitable color as the target according to the situation. With regard to the
auditory sensor, WE-4RII has condenser microphones in each ear. It can localize the sound
direction from its loudness in a 3D space. For olfactory sensation, we set four semiconductor gas
sensors (SB-19, SB-30, SB-AQ1A and SB-E32, FIC Inc.) in WE-4RII’s nose. The robot can
quickly distinguish the smells of alcohol, ammonia and cigarette smoke. In addition, we used
FSRs (model 406, Interlink Electronics, Inc.) as the tactile sensor and set them on the cheeks,
forehead, top and side of the head of WE-4RII. The robot can recognize the difference in
touching behaviors such as “push,” “hit” and “stroke”.
Meanwhile, WE-4RII has on/off contact sensors and FSRs on RCH-1. The on/off contact
sensors, which are film shaped switch, detect contact with the objects for grasping. FSRs set on
the dorsum of RCH-1 are used for interaction with a human.

4 Total System Configuration

We control WE-4RII by three computers (PC/AT compatible) connected by Ethernet. PC1

(Pentium4 3.0 [GHz], Windows XP) captures the visual images from CCD cameras. It calculates
gravity and brightness of the targets, and sends them to PC2. PC2 (Pentium4 2.66 [GHz],
Windows XP) obtains and analyzes the outputs from the olfactory and cutaneous sensors and the
sounds from microphones by using 12 [bit] A/D boards and a soundboard, respectively. In
addition, PC2 determines the robot’s mental state and controls DC motors excepting RCH-1. The
control data of RCH-1 is sent to PC3. PC3 (Pentium III 1.0[GHz], Windows 2000) obtains and
analyzes the sensor data of RCH-1 and sends it to PC2. And, PC3 controls DC motors on RCH-1.

5 Emotional Expressions

5.1 Definition of Emotional Patterns

WE-4RII can express its emotion by using the upper body motion: the facial expression, arms,
hands, waist and neck motion. First, the seven facial patterns of “Happiness”, “Anger”, “Disgust”,
“Fear”, “Sadness”, “Surprise”, and “Neutral” were defined by using the Six Basic Facial
Expressions of Ekman (Ekman and Friesen, 1978). Next, we made 13 patterns of the upper body
for each emotional expression by using the relation between the emotion and the posture
 (a) Neutral (b) Disgust (c) Fear (d) Sadness

(e) Happiness (f) Surprise (g) Anger

Figure 10. Emotional expressions of WE-4RII.

proposed by Hama et al. (2001). We defined one pattern with the highest recognition rate in pre-
experimental evaluation as the emotional pattern. In addition, both the posture and the motion
velocity were controlled in order to realize the effective emotional expression, since the motion
velocity is as important as the posture for emotional expressions. For example, WE-4RII moves
its body quickly and slowly for surprise and sadness emotional expressions, respectively. We
defined the motion velocities by comparing the various motion velocities. Figure 10 shows the
emotional expressions exhibited by WE-4RII.

5.2 Experimental Evaluation

We evaluated how the emotions of WE-4RII are transmitted by its facial expressions and upper
bodily expressions. Fast, we showed 18 subjects (averaged age: 21) the movies of the six basic
emotional expressions exhibited by the previous version WE-4R and WE-4RII. In the movies, the
motion patterns of WE-4R and WE-4RII were the same except for the hand motion. Next, the
subjects chose an emotion that they thought the robot expressed. We examined the correct
recognition rates of those emotional expressions. Finally, we compared the recognition rates of
WE-4R and WE-4RII. The experimental results are presented in Figure 11.
As a result, the WE-4RII’s recognition rate of “Happiness” was 5.5 [points] higher than WE-
4R. All subjects correctly recognized the “Surprised”, “Sadness”, “Anger” and “Disgust”
emotional expressions of WE-4RII. However, the recognition rate of “Fear” was 5.5 [points]
lower than WE-4R’s rate since the some WE-4R WE-4RII
subjects thought the “Fear” emotional 100100 94.4
100 100100 100
100 94.4 90.7 93.5
expression as “Disgust” emotional 88.9 88.9
expression. In total, the averaged

Recognition Rate %
80 72.2
recognition rate of all emotional 66.7

expressions of WE-4RII was 2.8 [points] 60

higher than the WE-4R’s averaged
40
recognition rate. Therefore, we
considered that the integration of the 20
humanoid robot hands was effective for
the improvement of emotional 0
Surprised Sadness Fear Averaged
Happiness Anger Disgust
expressions. However, the emotional
expressions in Fig.4 are Japanese patterns. Figure 11. Results of the experimental evaluation.
We need to deal with cultural differences.

6 Conclusions and Future Work

In this paper, we presented the Emotion Expression Humanoid Robot WE-4RII developed by
integrating the Humanoid Robot Hands RCH-1 into the previous version WE-4R. We
confirmed that WE-4RII can effectively express its emotions.
In the future, we would like to increase the emotional expressions and behaviors and to
develop a model for generation of most suitable emotional expression and behavior according to
the situation. In addition, a method for objective evaluation of robots has not been proposed yet.
It is very important to measure the psychical effect of robots on humans in real time and with
high reliability by objectively evaluating robots. Therefore, we would like to develop new
evaluation system for the humanoid robots.

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