WABOT-1: The First Humanoid Robot with Human in the Loop

In this talk

1. 1:10

   A robot built from coordinated systems

   WABOT combines biped legs, tactile hands, camera eyes, speech input and output, and a computer that processes information from its surroundings and internal sensors. Its subsystems work together so it can respond to commands and act on what it detects.

2. 4:40

   Mechanical design and movement

   The hydraulic legs weigh about 130 kilograms and have 11 degrees of freedom; each arm has seven. The arms use joint motors and tactile microswitches, while the hands move toward targets described in three-dimensional coordinates. The legs could carry a 30 kilogram load in an early demonstration, though the machine later carried only 10 kilograms.

3. 11:45

   Finding objects and learning speech

   Two cameras scan for objects at long, medium, and near ranges, estimating distance and direction to guide the legs. The speech system can learn vowel patterns and limited vocabulary, adapt to different speakers, and recognize commands even when their clauses come in a different order. When a command is incomplete, WABOT asks for the missing detail.

4. 19:57

   Walking, approaching, and grasping

   A two-step walk is split into 16 phases and takes about 110 seconds. As WABOT approaches an object, it refines its camera focus and position estimates, then moves its hand until a tactile sensor detects contact and the fingers grip. An early attempt knocked the object over, showing how the hand and sensing systems affected the outcome.

5. 30:52

   Coordination as the central challenge

   The project was built by students, apart from the minicomputer. Takanishi emphasizes coordination among subsystem teams as essential to making the robot function as a whole.