Humanoid robot
Related papers: 20
About
A humanoid robot is a robotic system designed with a body structure resembling that of a human, typically featuring a torso, two arms, two legs, and a head. These robots are engineered to operate in environments built for humans, navigate bipedal terrain, and interact naturally with people. Core technical challenges include maintaining dynamic balance during walking and manipulation, addressed through concepts like the Zero-Moment Point (ZMP) and capture point theory, compliant actuation using series elastic actuators, and whole-body motion planning via optimization and hierarchical control frameworks. Machine learning techniques—particularly reinforcement learning and imitation learning using movement primitives—enable humanoid robots to acquire complex motor skills beyond what hand-crafted controllers can achieve. Platforms such as Honda's ASIMO, HRP-2, iCub, NAO, and Pepper have driven research across locomotion, human-robot interaction, social behavior, and cognitive development. Humanoid robots matter because they can seamlessly integrate into human workspaces and homes, assist in healthcare, education, and hazardous environments, and serve as invaluable research platforms for understanding human movement, cognition, and social intelligence.
Top Researchers
Top Cited Papers
Series elastic actuators
Gill A. Pratt, Matthew M. Williamson
Citations: 2177 • 2002
Biped walking pattern generation by using preview control of zero-moment point
Shuuji Kajita, Fumio Kanehiro, Kenji Kaneko, Kiyoshi Fujiwara, Kensuke Harada, Kazuhito Yokoi, Hirohisa Hirukawa
Citations: 2083 • 2004
ZERO-MOMENT POINT — THIRTY FIVE YEARS OF ITS LIFE
Miomir Vukobratović, Branislav Borovać
Citations: 2015 • 2004
The development of Honda humanoid robot
Kazuo Hirai, Masato Hirose, Y. Haikawa, Toru Takenaka
Citations: 1925 • 2002
Learning agile and dynamic motor skills for legged robots
Jemin Hwangbo, Joonho Lee, Alexey Dosovitskiy, C. Dario Bellicoso, Vassilios Tsounis, Vladlen Koltun, Marco Hutter
Citations: 1398 • 2019
Is imitation learning the route to humanoid robots?
Stefan Schaal
Citations: 1325 • 1999
Emotion and sociable humanoid robots
Cynthia Breazeal
Citations: 1266 • 2003
Capture Point: A Step toward Humanoid Push Recovery
Jerry Pratt, John Carff, S. Drakunov, Ambarish Goswami
Citations: 1098 • 2006
On Learning, Representing, and Generalizing a Task in a Humanoid Robot
Sylvain Calinon, F. Guenter, Aude Billard
Citations: 1086 • 2007
Reinforcement learning of motor skills with policy gradients
Jan Peters, Stefan Schaal
Citations: 863 • 2008
Movement imitation with nonlinear dynamical systems in humanoid robots
Auke Jan Ijspeert, Jun Nakanishi, Stefan Schaal
Citations: 842 • 2003
Motion planning with sequential convex optimization and convex collision checking
John Schulman, Yan Duan, Jonathan Ho, Alex Pui‐Wai Lee, Ibrahim Awwal, Henry Bradlow, Jia Pan, Sachin Patil, Ken Goldberg, Pieter Abbeel
Citations: 840 • 2014
Optimization-based locomotion planning, estimation, and control design for the atlas humanoid robot
Scott Kuindersma, Robin Deits, Maurice Fallon, Andrés Valenzuela, Hongkai Dai, Frank Permenter, Twan Koolen, Pat Marion, Russ Tedrake
Citations: 814 • 2015
Synthesis and stabilization of complex behaviors through online trajectory optimization
Yuval Tassa, Tom Erez, Emanuel Todorov
Citations: 760 • 2012
Humanoid robot HRP-2
Kenji Kaneko, Fumio Kanehiro, Shuuji Kajita, Hirohisa Hirukawa, T. Kawasaki, M. Hirata, Kazuhiko Akachi, Takakatsu Isozumi
Citations: 750 • 2004
A review of mobile robots: Concepts, methods, theoretical framework, and applications
Francisco Rubio, Francisco Valero, Carlos Llopis‐Albert
Citations: 749 • 2019
Human–Robot Interaction
Thomas B. Sheridan
Citations: 741 • 2016
Robotic assistants in therapy and education of children with autism: can a small humanoid robot help encourage social interaction skills?
Ben Robins, Kerstin Dautenhahn, René te Boekhorst, Aude Billard
Citations: 686 • 2005
YARP: Yet Another Robot Platform
Giorgio Metta, Paul Fitzpatrick, Lorenzo Natale
Citations: 644 • 2006
Solving Rubik's Cube with a Robot Hand
Ilge Akkaya, Marcin Andrychowicz, Maciek Chociej, Mateusz Litwin, Bob McGrew, Arthur J Petron, Alex Paino, Matthias Plappert, Glenn Powell, Raphael Ribas, Jonas Schneider, Nikolas Tezak, Jerry Tworek, Peter Welinder, Lilian Weng, Qiming Yuan, Wojciech Zaremba, Lei Zhang
Citations: 632 • 2019