The ETL-Humanoid system—a high-performance full-body humanoid system for versatile real-world interaction

This paper presents the final stage of development of a humanoid system, ETL-Humanoid. It is a full-scale humanoid system with 46 d.o.f., with the height and weight of an average Japanese person. It was designed as an experimental platform to explore the general principle of controls of complex embodied systems. The complete system, the mechanical configuration of the system and the low-level network-based control system will be presented. The final system possesses properties of compactness, modularity and is light in weight. The mechanical system is high in performance, back-drivable and compliant, allowing the possibility of a wide range of motions and capabilities. The strength and power of the system is demonstrated through an experiment of 'chin up'. The humanlike configuration and compliant aspects of the system are demonstrated via a session of physical interaction. A running-like motion was generated to show the speed of the system. Aside from its human-like physical characteristics, the system is also capable of performing higher-level interaction involving perceptions and actions.