As part of Professor Professor Jan Peters' Intelligent Autonomous Systems Group, the Laboratory for Humanoid Robotics will provide a platform for researching the interactions between motor skills, cognitive perception and human-robot interaction. For these research projects, TU Darmstadt has now acquired TALOS, a 1.75 metre tall and 95 kilogramme humanoid – i.e. human-like – robot from Pal Robotics. It can lift six kilograms per outstretched arm, climb stairs, walk on uneven terrain, manipulate objects with its gripping hands and work together with human and mechanical colleagues. Another important feature for research with TALOS is torque control, which allows it to control its forces.

The Computer Science department groups of Simulation, Systems Optimization and Robotics led by Professor Oskar von Stryk, Interactive Robot Perception & Learning led by Professor Georgia Chalvatzaki and the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Lab led by Professor Kristian Kersting are also involved in the lab. Also involved are the Control and Cyber-Physical Systems Laboratory of Professor Rolf Findeisen at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, the Sports Biomechanics group of Professor André Seyfarth and the Psychology of Information Processing Lab of Professor Constantin A. Rothkopf at the Department of Human Sciences.

The acquisition costs of around 1.8 million euros for TALOS, its future expansion components for greater agility and dynamics, and the laboratory equipment are being funded in equal parts by TU Darmstadt and the German Research Foundation (DFG).

bjb

bjb