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September 22, 2026

Analysis questions rotary actuators in robot design

A critique of robot design calls quadruped robots “really suboptimal” and argues that geared-down electric motors, while effective in cars such as Tesla vehicles, are poor at generating torque.

It contrasts their rotary motion with the way a human arm moves through muscle action, and characterizes humanoid robot companies as awkwardly adapting a component that generates radial motion for movement described as more linear.

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