{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]],"date-time":"2026-01-10T00:25:10Z","timestamp":1768004710535,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":2,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2006,3,1]],"date-time":"2006-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1141171200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2006,3,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>To describe the design methodology and human\u2010centre functionality of the whole arm manipulator (WAM) developed originally at MIT and brought to commercial fruition by Barrett Technology.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>The WAM arm is driven by cable\u2010and\u2010cylinder transmissions, which uniquely exhibits zero backlash with low friction and low inertia, endowing the WAM with good open\u2010loop \u201cbackdrivability\u201d. Two key benefits of the high backdrivability are: motion control through joint torque control, which enables the intrinsic sensing of forces over the whole arm and makes it inherently safe to humans; operation directly in the Cartesian domain without the need for inverse kinematics calculations, providing very rapid responsiveness as demonstrated in the \u201cbaseball robot\u201d of Tokyo University. Another benefit of the WAM is its kinematic redundancy through the 4\u2010dof (degrees\u2010of\u2010freedom) main axes (7\u2010dof with the wrist). Recent major advances in the WAM include the \u201cpuck\u201d, the world's smallest fully\u2010featured servo\u2010controller that eliminates the need for an external controller cabinet, and a safety circuit that limits, by a set amount, the power flow from the WAM to a person or object while not inhibiting the reverse from human to arm. The WAM's intrinsic force control has allowed the development of software\u2010defined haptic walls, which are being exploited by partners such as the CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) Robotics Institute, in patient rehabilitation, and Mako Surgical, for use in joint surgery.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The Barrett WAM's good open\u2010loop backdrivability has initiated the development of novel human\u2010centred robot applications that will expand the use of robots outside the factory and into human\u2010inhabited areas.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>Presents the design methodology, features and applications of the Barrett WAM human\u2010centred robot.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/01439910610651446","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2006,7,3]],"date-time":"2006-07-03T17:53:50Z","timestamp":1151949230000},"page":"125-130","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":65,"title":["The harmonious robot"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"33","author":[{"given":"Brian","family":"Rooks","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022013020073389300_b1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Abovitz, R. (2001), \u201cDigital surgery: the future of medicine and human\u2010robot symbiotic interaction\u201d, Industrial Robot, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 401\u20105.","DOI":"10.1108\/EUM0000000005842"},{"key":"key2022013020073389300_b2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Townsend, W.T. and Guertin, J.A. (1999), \u201cTeleoperator slave \u2013 WAM design methodology\u201d, Industrial Robot, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 167\u201077.","DOI":"10.1108\/01439919910266820"}],"container-title":["Industrial Robot: An International Journal"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1108\/01439910610651446","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/01439910610651446\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/01439910610651446\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T23:50:01Z","timestamp":1753401001000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/ir\/article\/33\/2\/125-130\/183941"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Faye","family":"Smith","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2006,3,1]]},"references-count":2,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2006,3,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/01439910610651446"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/01439910610651446","relation":{},"ISSN":["0143-991X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0143-991X","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2006,3,1]]}}}