the RobotCub project

Giulio Sandini (1,2) , Giorgio Metta (1,2) , David Vernon (1)

(1) University of Genoa(2) Italian Institute of Technology

Main Figures• RobotCub is a 5 years project funded by the European

Commission in the field of “cognitive systems” (cordis.europa.eu/cognition)

• Presently the consortium is composed of 16 Partners, 11 from Europe, 3 from Japan and 2 from the USA.

• The consortium is coordinated by University of Genoa• Total Funding is 8.5 M€ and total effort is 1,651

person-months (138 person-years)

The project started in September 2004

RobotCub

Robot-Cub scientific goal is to study the development of cognitive manipulation skills (manipulation, imitation, gesture communication)

Robot-Cub engineering goal is to build a humanoid platform to be used by the scientific community as a common platform the iCub

Global scientific community is best served by creating an open platform and exploiting synergies

Robot-Cub engineering goal is to build a humanoid platform whose design is open to the scientific community and can be duplicated and improved by the community of its users.

Research Strategy

An Open System!!

The iCubThe iCub is the humanoid baby-robot being

designed within the RobotCub project

– The iCub will be a full humanoid robot sized as a two and half year-old child.

– The total height is estimated to be around 94cm.

– It will have 53 degrees of freedom, including articulated hands to be used for manipulation and gesturing.

– The robot will be able to crawl and sit and autonomously transition from crawling to sitting and vice-versa.

– The robot is GPL/FDL: software, hardware, drawings, documentation, etc.

Size, shape, dof’sA

pp

rox

93

4mm

243mm

369mm

439

mm

Avg. 14kg - 30.8 lb

From human data

From our experiencewith other platforms

Not quite! 23kg

iCub CAD

Hand and fingerAngle sensors

Tension sensor Tactile

Internal wires

Sensors…

• Cameras

• Skin/tactile

• Gyros/inertial

• Microphones

640x480 colorRemote headVery smallbut otherwise standard

Small (0.67mm)Designing force/torque sensorFingertip 3-axis sensorJoint torque measurementConductive paint…QTC: rubber-like materialTension sensors?Organic FETs?

Standard, condenser electret

More sensors…

• Tension Sensors

• Fingertips

Head

Being assembled…

Upper torso + head + shoulder & elbow

Force/torque sensorControl cards

Foot (note the size)

Hips

Latest Pictures

Software ArchitectureMultiple YARP processes

Running on multiple processors

Gbit Ethernet

Level 0 APIs: data acquisition & motor control

DSP

iCubEmbeddedSystems

HUB

DSP DSP DSP

Sensors & Actuators

Level 1 APIs: perception/action behaviors

Cognitive Architecture

Innate perception/action primitives loose federation of behaviors

Based on phylogenic

configuration

own learning model

Level 2 APIs: Prospective Action Behaviors

Coordinated operation: Ontogenic Development

pc104

Timeframe

• Sept 2007: – First Prototype completed, tested and debugged

• Sept 2007: – Launch of Competitive Calls

• March 2008: – 8 more platforms built for the scientific

community– Additional projects start

Seeking International Collaboration

1. Joining effort with on-going project (and contribute to new proposals)

2. Directly support projects on “Cognition” based on iCub platform