Nadia Humanoid Project

IHMC is working in collaboration with Boardwalk Robotics to develop a next generation humanoid robot called Nadia, which will have a high power-to-weight ratio and large range of motion, along with develop autonomous and semi-autonomous behaviors to allow Nadia to function in urban environments. It’s named Nadia, after famed gymnast Nadia Comăneci, and is being funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

The Nadia project, which has a three year timeline, is intended to function in indoor environments where stairs, ladders, and debris would require a robot to have the same range of motion as a human, which can be particularly useful in firefighting, disaster response, and other scenarios that might be dangerous for humans.


Integrated Smart Actuators

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Nadia is powered partially by hydraulics, using Moog’s Integrated Smart Actuators (ISAs), originally developed in collaboration with the Instituto Italiano de Technologia (IIT)’s Dynamic Legged Systems Lab for the HyQ quadruped. Moog’s ISAs includes integrated servo valves, control electronics, fieldbus communicators (EtherCAT and CANbus), and onboard sensors. They have a power-to-weight ratio better than human muscles, providing a high level of speed, power, and flexibility, while maintaining a high range of motion.