Brief Presentation

The RobotCub project is a research initiative dedicated to the realization of embodied cognitive systems. It has the twin goals of 1) creating an open humanoid robotic platform for research in embodied cognition – the iCub – and 2) advancing our understanding of cognitive systems by exploiting this platform in the study of the development of cognitive capabilities in humanoid robots. The iCub will have a physical size and form similar to that of a two and a half year-old child and will achieve its cognitive capabilities through development and learning in its environment: by interactive exploration, manipulation, imitation, and gestural communication.

The iCub will be a freely-available open system which can be used by scientists in all cognate disciplines from developmental psychology to epigenetic robotics. The iCub will be open both in software but more importantly in all aspects of the hardware and mechanical design. One of the tenets of the RobotCub stance on cognition is that manipulation plays a key role in the development of cognitive capability. Consequently, the design is aimed at maximizing the number of degrees of freedom of the upper part of the body (head, torso, arms, and hands). The lower body (legs) will support crawling on arms and legs and sitting on the ground in a stable position with smooth autonomous transition from crawling to sitting. This will allow the robot to explore the environment and to grasp and manipulate objects on the floor. The total height is estimated to be around 90cm. The total number of degrees of freedom for the upper body will be 41 (7 for each arm, 9 for each hand, 6 for the head and 3 for the torso and spine). Each leg will have a further 6 degrees of freedom. The sensory system will include binocular vision and haptic, cutaneous, aural, and vestibular sensors. Functionally, the system will be able to coordinate the movement of the eyes and hands, grasp and manipulate lightweight objects of reasonable size and appearance, crawl using its arms and legs, and sit up. This will allow the system to explore and interact with the environment not only by manipulating objects but also through locomotion.

The mechanics, electronics and software components of the iCub are being developed by the RobotCub’s team in parallel and synergistically. We aim at a global optimization process of these three components. Our goal is to produce an integrated design, of an open platform, apt to support various behaviors, and of the most general use possible. Complementary to this requirement, the robot platform has to incorporate manipulation by providing sophisticated hands, a flexible oculomotor system, and a reasonable bi-manual workspace. Finally, on top of this, we need to support, global body movements such as crawling, sitting, etc. These many constraints had to be considered in preparing the specifications of the robot and later on during the whole design process.