A massive revolution is currently underway within the commercial hardware space regarding actuation. Legacy robots from the early 2010s relied almost exclusively on heavy pneumatic pumps or rigid titanium gearing matrices to move their limbs. Tendon-Driven Actuators represent the future of home automation safety.
Why Cables Beat Gears
By utilizing high-tensile strength synthetic cables structured identically to biological human tendons, engineers can remove the heavy electric motors from the robot's hands entirely and relocate them safely into the central torso. The torso motors simply pull the cables, which in turn contract the fingers. This lowers the swing weight of the arms, drastically reducing the kinetic danger if the robot were to accidentally swing into a human.
Passive Compliance
Beyond weight reduction, tendon architectures provide "passive compliance." If a rigid gear-driven arm hits an obstacle, the gears shatter or the obstacle breaks. If a tendon-driven arm hits an obstacle, the cables naturally possess slack and give way safely, exactly like a human arm bouncing off a doorframe.