The use of standard platforms in the field of humanoid robotics can accelerate research, and lower the entry barrier for new research groups. While many affordable humanoid standard platforms exist in the lower size ranges of up to 60cm, beyond this the few available standard platforms quickly become significantly more expensive, and difficult to operate and maintain. In this paper, the igus Humanoid Open Platform is presented---a new, affordable, versatile and easily customisable standard platform for humanoid robots in the child-sized range. At 90cm, the robot is large enough to interact with a human-scale environment in a meaningful way, and is equipped with enough torque and computing power to foster research in many possible directions. The structure of the robot is entirely 3D printed, allowing for a lightweight and appealing design. The electrical and mechanical designs of the robot are presented, and the main features of the corresponding open-source ROS software are discussed. The 3D CAD files for all of the robot parts have been released open-source in conjunction with this paper.
Another example of a successful standard platform is the @cite_1 , and its recent successor the , distributed by Robotis. Both robots are quite similar in design and architecture, and stand at 45.5 cm tall, almost exactly half the size of the . P1_comparison shows a size comparison between the two robots and a Darwin-Mini, which is only 27 cm tall. In contrast to the closed proprietary design of the robot, the was designed as an open platform that allows users to operate, maintain and customise the robot as they desire. Nevertheless, the size of the robot has remained a limiting factor to its range of applications.
@cite_1
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This paper presents the design method for a humanoid which has a network based modular structure and a standard PC architecture. Based on the proposed method, we developed DARwIn-OP which meets the requirements for an open humanoid platform. DARwIn-OP has an expandable system structure, high performance, simple maintenance, familiar development environment, and affordable prices. All resources of DARwIn-OP including source codes, circuit diagrams, mechanical CAD files, and parts information will be opened to the public.