Introduction to Humanoid Robot

Human like robots are robotics engineered to resemble the human body, though not necessarily exactly structurally. They are designed and developed with an anthropomorphic form but include mechanical components instead of biological tissues and organs. Some key characteristics of human like robots include having two arms, two legs, and a torso with a head. Their joints also mimic the degrees of freedom of human limbs including rotation of shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles to enable complex mobility and dexterous manipulation capabilities.

Early Development of Humanoid Robot

The earliest attempts at creating human like robots can be traced back to the 1920s. In 1920, the Czech inventor Karel Čapek first coined the word "Robot" for his theatrical composition R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots). However, it wasn't until the 1960s and 70s that serious research began on developing autonomous, Dexterous humanoids. This included the pioneering work by Masahiro Mori at Waseda University in Japan who created WABOT-1, considered one of the earliest true human like robots. In 1972, Waseda University unveiled the world's first full-sized human like robot called WABIAN-1. Throughout the 70s and 80s, research progressed in developing basic mobility, sensor networks and manipulative dexterity in humanoid platforms.

Advancements in Mechatronic Systems and Computation

Significant advancements were enabled in the late 80s and 90s with improvements in mechatronic systems like electric motors, actuators, sensors and embedded computation. This allowed incorporation of greater degrees of freedom and complexity in Humanoid Robot. Notable robots from this era included the series of P robots from AIST Japan which demonstrated basic locomotion, reaction capabilities and visual processing skills. Advances in distributed computation also enabled integration of multiple processing boards to achieve whole-body motion coordination. Platforms like Cog from MIT furthered research in applying principals of cognitive robotics and artificial intelligence in humanoids.

Modern Highly-Capable Human like robots

The 21st century has seen remarkable growth in the sophistication of human like robotics. Platforms like ASIMO from Honda, HUBO from KAIST, WALK-MAN from IIT and ELL-O from PAL showcased responsive and compliant mobility through advanced control schemes. Many modern robots employ redundant actuation for enhanced safety during physical interaction with humans. Recent platforms like Atlas from Boston Dynamics, Hubo Plus from KIST and Sophia from Hanson Robotics exemplify the current state-of-the-art in balancing, whole-body motion coordination and cognition capabilities. Features such as accurate perception, dexterous manipulation, conversational skills and navigation bring humanoids closer to extending human abilities into challenging environments.

Actuation and Physical Design Advances

Contemporary humanoids leverage advanced actuation technologies for more lifelike and dynamic motion. Electric motors combined with harmonic drive or absolute encoders allow replicating human joint rotations. Compliant transmissions provide safety during operation and impact absorption. Novel limb designs employ Series Elastic Actuators for precise torque control, reacting against disturbances. Redundant drive trains enable multi-degree compliance and force-closure grasping. Lightweight materials like carbon fiber laminates and 3D printed parts permit construction of robust frames and limbs, balancing strength and mobility. Anthropomorphic hands with integrated pressure sensors and more than 20 DoFs enable dexterous motion and touch-based perception. Overall, these advancements culminate in robust and agile bipedal platforms able retain balance under perturbations.

Perception and Cognition Capabilities

State-of-the-art humanoids house sophisticated sensor payloads including high-resolution stereoscopic vision, inertial measurement units, ultrasonic proximity sensors and tactile skins. Onboard processing includes multiple CPUs, GPUs and dedicated co-processors, enabling real-time coordination of perception and control systems. Advanced algorithms permit functions like face and gesture recognition, target tracking, object classification, simultaneous localization and mapping of environments. Navigation, decision making and planning utilize sophisticated whole-body motion control techniques. Continued integration of additional cognitive skills through deep learning, autonomous grasping and interactive social capabilities bring humanoids closer to demonstrating advanced intelligence.

Applications and Future Prospects

Current applications of humanoids span industrial production, healthcare, education, construction, transportation and space exploration. In factories, arms like UR5 augment human capabilities for material handling, assembly and inspection. In healthcare, robots such as Pepper assist patients through companionship, coaching and monitoring therapy gains. Platforms like Nao provide immersive education by simulating experiments in science, technology and arts. Construction robots from Built Robotics enable performing risky interventions in infrastructure repair and inspection.

Delivery robots like Starship’s autonomous carts deliver packages on sidewalks and college campuses. Cutting edge robots like DLR SpaceBot and Valkyrie can perform extravehicular activities and assist astronauts in future space missions. Looking ahead, continued research aims to imbue humanoids with general intelligence while advancing physical dexterity, safety and interaction skills for applications across diverse domains. Overall, human-level

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