Humanoid Robot Design
IHMC's humanoid robotics program centers on developing and advancing full-scale humanoid platforms capable of dynamic movement. Our primary platform Alex and legacy humanoid Nadia represent years of in-house engineering focused on novel mechanisms, torque-dense actuation, and lightweight materials. Through rigorous hardware development and integration with IHMC's world-class control software, these robots are pushing the boundaries of what humanoid systems can achieve in demanding, unstructured settings.
Alex
HMC newest humanoid robot, Alex, builds off the success of Nadia, featuring high power, custom actuators, as well as completely onboard computation, perception, and power. This allows Alex to go where Nadia couldn’t - outside. Alex is being used across our projects, focusing on mobility, power, and autonomous and semi-autonomous behaviors to allow the robot to function both outside and in urban environments and structures. The development of Alex is funded through several sources, including the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Army Research Laboratory (ARL), and Army Data Analysis Center (DAC).
The Alex project is intended to develop highly mobile ground robots that can function in indoor environments where stairs, ladders, and debris would require a robot to have the same range of motion as a human. As we see today, there are nearly an infinite number of applications for humanoid robots. We’re focusing on giving Alex the right set of capabilities to function as a human teammate, providing the capability to extend human presence without placing someone in harm’s way.
Power-Dense Quasi-Direct Drive Actuators
Alex is powered entirely by custom, highly backdriveable, powerful quasi-direct drive actuators. Leveraging careful designed cycloidal transmissions, this enables Alex to be robust, fast, and strong, while also allowing for highly efficient, natural motions. These designs are an iteration of the actuators made for Nadia’s arms, keeping all the good parts while focusing on robustness and modularity.
Compact, Motion Informed Design
Alex is designed to be flexible, while not compromising its agility. Across its 29 joints, we spent significant time thinking about the performance requirements for each of the tasks we want the robot to execute. This will give Alex the ability to reach places that are impossible to achieve with traditional robots, enabling an extreme level of mobility and agility.
You Can Call Me Alex
Nadia
(Legacy)
IHMC developed a next generation humanoid robot called Nadia along with collaborators Boardwalk Robotics, Morfey Ltd, and H4 Labs. Nadia was designed to have have a high power-to-weight ratio and large range of motion through the use of innovative mechanisms and composite materials. Nadia was also being used to develop autonomous and semi-autonomous behaviors to allow the robot to function in urban environments and structures. The robot’s namesake is famed gymnast Nadia Comăneci, as a nod to the ultimate design goal — achieving human-range-of-motion. The development of Nadia was funded through several sources, including the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Army Research Laboratory (ARL), NASA Johnson Space Center, and TARDEC.
The Nadia project was intended to develop highly mobile ground robots that can function in indoor environments where stairs, ladders, and debris would require a robot to have the same range of motion as a human. While this has any number of applications, it can be particularly useful in firefighting, disaster response, and other scenarios that might be dangerous for humans such as Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD).
Smart Actuators
Nadia was powered by a combination of electric and hydraulic actuators. It used 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, custom electric actuators in the pelvis, and commercial off-the-shelf actuators for the arms.
Range of Motion
Nadia was designed to be flexible. Across its 29 joints, it had some of the highest ranges of motion of any humanoid robot to date when it was built. This gave it the ability to reach places that are impossible to achieve with traditional robots, enabling an extreme level of mobility.
