Many human-body motions such as walking, running, jumping, etc. require a significant amount of power. To achieve a high power-to-weight ratio ofthe humanoid robot system, this paper proposes a new design of the bio-mimetic leg mechanism resembling musculoskeletal system of the human body. The hip joints of the system considered here are powered by 5 human-like bi- and mono-articular muscles, and the joints of knee and ankle are redundantIy actuated by both bi-articular muscles and joint actuators. The kinematics for the leg mechanism is derived and a kinematic index to measure force transmission ratio is introduced. It is demonstrated through simulation that incorporation of redundant muscles into the leg mechanism enhances the power of the mechanism approximately 2 times of the minimum actuation.
