Albert HUBO Humanoid Robot

Albert HUBO Humanoid Robot: Product Overview

Technical Specifications

Key Features & Benefits

• Lifelike Appearance: Combines a walking bipedal frame with an animatronic head in the likeness of Albert Einstein.
• Facial Expressions: Capable of a wide range of natural facial expressions, including laugh, sadness, anger, and surprise.
• Human-Robot Interaction: Designed to interact with people and act as an ambassador for technology.
• Dynamic Walking: Utilizes a stable bipedal walking mechanism with self-stabilizing control.
• Realistic Materials: Uses Frubber artificial skin for realistic facial movements.

Target Applications

Albert HUBO was designed and used for a range of applications that highlighted its capabilities in robotics and AI:

• Technology Promotion: Served as the ambassador of "DYNAMIC KOREA," promoting South Korea's technology internationally.
• Human-Robot Interaction Research: Used in studies to understand how robots and humans perceive emotions and interpret facial cues.
• Exhibitions and Demonstrations: Displayed at events like the APEC Summit in Seoul, Korea to greet world leaders and the public.
• Entertainment: Mimics Albert Einstein's voice and facial expressions for entertainment purposes.
• Exploration of Android and Humanoid Robot Integration: Albert HUBO bridged two distinct research areas, android robotics and humanoid robotics
• Facial Expression Technology Testing: Albert HUBO helped researchers to explore the creation of spongelike elastomer materials that move more like facial soft-tissues and the techniques of low power consumptions and full facial expressions.

Use Cases & Scenarios

• Public Relations: Representing a country’s innovation on the international stage.
• Research: Studying human-robot interaction.
• Education: Showcasing robotics and AI to students and the general public.
• Exhibitions: Entertaining and engaging audiences with realistic facial expressions and voice.

Unique Selling Points

• First of Its Kind: The world's first android head mounted on a life-size walking bipedal frame.
• Expressive Facial Movements: Employs 28 servomotors to create a wide range of realistic facial expressions.
• Collaboration: Collaboration between KAIST (body) and Hanson Robotics (head).
• Cultural Icon: Likeness of Albert Einstein makes it instantly recognizable and appealing.
• Light Weight Facial express : The head is 10W for electricity consumption when generating a full range of facial expressions.

Industries Utilized

• Robotics Research
• Public Relations
• Education
• Entertainment

Competitive Advantages

*Combines the expertise of KAIST in bipedal robotics with Hanson Robotics' expertise in lifelike android heads. *Expressive Face enables more realistic and engaging human-robot interactions compared to less expressive robots.

More Information

Albert HUBO combines a mechanical body (created by KAIST) with a robotic head in the likeness of Albert Einstein (created by Hanson Robotics). It was designed to have lifelike appearance and facial expressions and dynamic humanlike walking. Frubber artificial skin was used for the face.

• Albert HUBO used the merits of HUBO platform design
• Shoulder design: arm parts were moved about 45mm to the outside from body center
• Backpack: Used the astronaut design in order to hide inner mechanical devices and controllers

*Rating: Albert HUBO project ended; this is a discontinued research prototype.

Other Robots of Hanson Robotics

• Sophia: Advanced human-like robot known for her AI and social interaction capabilities.
• BINA48: Humanoid robot consisting of a bust-like head and shoulders mounted on a frame.
• Han: Expressive humanoid robot with masculine features focused on serving and helping others.

Pricing and Availability

• Pricing: N/A (discontinued research prototype, Albert HUBO project ended)
• Brochure: N/A
• Demo Request: N/A
• Technical Whitepaper: https://www.hansonrobotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Design-of-Android-type-Humanoid-Robot-Albert-HUBO.pdf(This link might not direct access)

Extra Information:

Albert HUBO represented a significant step in integrating android and humanoid robotics technologies. The project aimed to narrow two research areas of android robot and humanoid robot. The design process involved creative solutions to combine a machine-shaped body with the lifelike Einstein head, such as the astronaut-inspired styling to integrate the mechanical components seamlessly.

The project also addressed technical challenges, such as achieving low power consumption for the facial expressions (less than 10W). Designers made considerations for size and space, because its base platform was designed accurately and Styling design and the making of head were progressed concurrently

Key design elements include: 1) the expressive head made using Frubber artificial skin moved using 28 servo motors, and 2) the space suit of astronaut Einstein The project also highlights the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to create world’s first expressive human face on a walking biped robot.