Humanoid Robot Makes Debut in International Competition

After eight years of development, the humanoid robot named TOCABI (Torque Controlled compliAnt BIped) is finally completed, making its debut at the international ANA AVATAR XPRIZE competition. 

New Jersey Institute of Technology Assistant Professor Mathew Schwartz began working on the design of the robot while he was a researcher at the Digital Human Research Center, AICT, a lab in South Korea run by Seoul National University (SNU) at the direction of Jaeheung Park, professor at SNU.

During that time, Schwartz and Park’s Dynamic Robotics Systems Lab (DYROS) at SNU built the lower legs and a temporary upper body of the robot. In 2016, the design of the upper body began, and since 2017 when Schwartz joined NJIT’s industrial design program, he and Park have continued to work as an interdisciplinary team, combining the aesthetics, mechanics and industrial design with real-world challenges of research, engineering, prototyping and manufacturing.  

The science and technology of the TOCABI humanoid robot has a multitude of applications, from emergency responder to worker avatars, with far reaching implications for everything from occupational safety to the transformation of industrial economies. 

While there are a variety of ways to develop a robotic system, TOCABI uses what is known as torque-control. Unlike robotic arms found in a manufacturing facility that are controlled by commanding a position, which can be dangerous for a human who does not anticipate its movement, torque-control first determines where it wants to go and then calculates and commands the amount of energy needed to the motors for that movement.

This torque-based system makes it much safer to have robots interact directly with humans, such as the case for an avatar. The robot is 1.8 meters, 100Kg, and has 33 degrees of freedom. TOCABI’s development is the product of many years of work, resources and especially – people. From Soonwook Hwang helping on the legs to Jaehoon Sim helping on the upper body and being the key person for integrating the entire system – they and more than 20 others were key to the project’s success.  

Earlier in September, Schwartz joined the team from South Korea in Miami for the semifinals of the Avatar XPrize. To learn more about the competition, robot and team, visit ANA Avatar XPRIZE | XPRIZE Foundation and 서울대학교 동적로봇시스템 연구실 (snu.ac.kr).