Humanoid robot
A robot built in roughly human form, with a torso, arms and hands on legs or a wheeled base, so it can work in spaces and with tools designed for people.
Photo: Tommy L / Unsplash
A humanoid robot copies the human layout so it can use what already exists for people: stairs, door handles, kitchen counters, shelves and hand tools. The bet is that one general-purpose machine can fit into homes, warehouses and factories as they are.
The form has a price. Each powered joint needs an actuator, two legs need continuous balance control fed by an IMU, and all of it draws on a battery that also powers the onboard computers. A machine of human size and weight moving next to people raises safety questions that a fixed arm or a robot vacuum avoids, which is one reason some designs put the upper body on wheels. How a humanoid decides what to do is the field of embodied AI; where the software cannot cope yet, makers may fall back on teleoperation.
Part of the IoT Glossary. Spotted an error or a missing term? Tell us.