Until the last decade, the main approach in robotic actuation was the use of heavy, stiff position/velocity and torque actuation units coupled with rigid non back-drivable transmission mechanisms. Recently, it has become increasingly clear that this traditional stiff actuation approach has significant performance limitations related to safety, efficiency and the ability to interact with the
... [Show full abstract] environment. To address these issues a wide range of experimental novel compliant actuation systems have been developed during the past fifteen years. This work reports on the fundamental principles of the compliant actuation and introduces ongoing mechatronic developments towards the realization of a passive compliant humanoid robot.