Humanoid robot which can lift a 30kg box by whole body contact and tactile feedback

Abstract

We present realization of a humanoid which can lift a heavy object by whole body contact. Most humanoid motions are limited to the posture of the end-effectors only landing. In principle these humanoids can not do natural motion. If a humanoid robot is allowed arbitrary contact with the surrounding objects, it can improve the performance and operate a heavier object. We propose a "whole body contact motion" of a humanoid robot. It is defined as a control of contact state of a humanoid robot which has the distributed tactile sensors. We develop conformable and scalable tactile skin and an adult-size humanoid with a smooth surfaces for arbitrary contact. We install the skin on the entire surfaces of the humanoid. Finally we describe the humanoid lifting a 30kg box by tactile feedback.