Humanoid and Human Robotics

The Section “Humanoid and Human Robotics” covers all issues related to robots developed with a human-centered approach.

A first category of robots is represented by all robots designed to achieve a close and natural interaction with humans: when this interaction is physical, robots can physically cooperate with humans, such as in the case of collaborative robots, or assist humans in task execution, such as in the case of exoskeletons for human empowerment or rehabilitation robots. When this interaction is mainly cognitive, we enter in the field of social robotics, where transmission of emotions and social aspects of communication also play a relevant role.

A second category of robots covered in this section is represented by humanoid robots, i.e., robots resembling the human body in shape, so that they need to face all complex challenges of human beings, both from a physical body design and behavioral point of view: for this reason, scientists working in this area largely rely on inspiration from neuroscience and human motor control to derive principles in terms of design and control that can solve complex issues related to ambient perception, locomotion, intelligent grasping and handling, and so on.

Topics addressed in this Section include but are not limited to the following:

• Human–robot interaction
• Human–robotics
• Humanoid robot design
• Collaborative robotics
• Actuator design for humanoid robots and collaborative robots
• Bioinspired robotics
• Advanced grasping and manipulation
• Humanoid biped locomotion
• Robotic touch
• Haptic interfaces and tactile feedback
• Telepresence and teleoperation
• Social robotics
• Robotic rehabilitation
• Exoskeleton and exosuits for human empowerment and assistance
• Admittance and impedance control
• Adaptive and assistance-as-needed robot control
• Artificial intelligence for humanoid robotics
• Human-inspired robot behavior