From the wonders of clockwork to those powered by artificial intelligence, humanoid robots have captured our imagination for centuries. Travelers began with pre-industrial automata in the 18th and 19th centuries, including Jacques de Vaucanson’s mechanical duck and Leonardo da Vinci’s humanoid figures. These early machines helped lay the foundations for up-to-date robotics, as visionaries wanted robots to behave like humans. More advances came in the 20th century, with robots like the WABOT-1, built in 1973 by Waseda University, featuring the ability to walk and speak Japanese.
With the advancement of various technologies, humanoid robots have also advanced in performing various tasks with the facilitate of newly designed artificial intelligence, sensors and actuators. Humanoid robots embody up-to-date technological achievements, flexibility, intelligence and interaction abilities. Let’s take a look at the 6 best humanoid robots of 2024!
What is Humanoid?
Humanoid means cloning the human form and mannerisms into a robot. Designers typically build such robots with a head and a torso, two arms, and two legs to act like humans in response to their environment. The robots can be designed with elements such as sensors and cameras, as well as cutting-edge AI algorithms, to detect objects and provide the movements the humanoid needs to perform based on human-enhanced abilities.
Also read: 15 Best AI Robots of the 21st Century
What are humanoids used for today?
Here are some crucial applications where humanoid robots can facilitate escalate efficiency, safety, and user comfort:
- Customer Service and Hospitality: They are employed as customer information agents. They greet customers, provide information and answer inquiries in hotels, airports and retail outlets. They can effectively improve the customer experience because they can distinguish human emotions.
- Healthcare and assistance: In healthcare, humanoid robots can facilitate in patient care, rehabilitation or assist in therapy. They also have a positive impact elderly and disabled people, helping them with everyday activities, thus enabling them to lead a comfortable life.
- Production and logistics: These are products such as the HRP-5P, which are designed to perform activities requiring physical strength in production processes and construction work. These robots can grab tools, prepare parts and mechanically manipulate goods, which increases productivity and reduces risks to personnel.
- Entertainment and companionship: Humanoid robots offer entertainment services to customers in amusement parks, museums and exhibitions. They also serve social purposes by being companions to people, especially the elderly and those who live alone.
- Security and supervision: Some humanoid aquatic robots are equipped with sensors and artificial intelligence to provide security and surveillance. They can monitor specific regions, look for suspicious activities, and report any security threats to escalate the safety of the population and its structures.
The best humanoid robots in 2024
1. Sophia
Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics created Sophia, a humanoid social robot that went online on February 14, 2016. Compared to earlier models, she is likeable in appearance and behavior, reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn.
Sophia uses cutting-edge AI that allows her to answer questions, recognize faces, and process statements using natural language processing. Her abilities include making faces, speaking, and learning from conversations she has had. Sophia is a celebrity; she gives interviews and speaks at conferences around the world and receives a lot of media attention. In July, she also made history when Saudi Arabia granted her citizenship, marking the first time a robot has been granted citizenship.
2.Atlas
Boston Dynamics, an American company, designed and built Atlas, a humanoid bipedal robot. In 2013 it gained popularity in the global automotive market. Atlas is used for search and rescue. It can maneuver on any terrain and jump over obstacles. It measures approximately 175 cm in height and can weigh up to 87 kg.
This character is unusual in that it is agile and balanced, and can perform various movements such as running, jumping, and backflips. It has convoluted control systems and sensors for balance and lively operation like a human. Atlas shows the advancement of robotic engineering, and scientists exploit it for innovations in robotics and artificial intelligence.
3. Asim
Honda developed ASIMO, or Advanced Step in Creative Mobility, as a human-shaped robot. It is a concept model introduced to the public in 2000 as a multifunctional mobile assistant. I am about four feet and three inches statuesque and weigh about 119 pounds on average. In addition, its basic mobility functions, such as walking, running, climbing stairs, and even dancing, are most notable.
ASIMO also has the ability to recognize faces, voices, and objects. It can interact with people and perform tasks such as delivering items and offering assistance. The ASIMO demonstration was vital for the development of robots in mobility and intelligence and was imported to Honda.
4. Pepper
Japanese company SoftBank Robotics Corporation introduced Pepper, a next-generation humanoid companion robot, in June 2014. Pepper is a social creature, with the ability to recognize faces and understand basic emotions of people, allowing her to communicate with them. Pepper is slightly shorter than the average person, standing about 120 cm statuesque and weighing about 28 kg. He has a touchscreen on the front that displays information and allows him to communicate with customers. It may include, but is not constrained to, greeting customers, informality, and retail services and customer relations. Pepper’s design and skills focus on social aspects and communication between humans and robots, which makes this model widely used in business and education.
5. Nao
NAO is another type of autonomous robot, a humanoid robot from Softbank Robotics that was first introduced in 2006. Standing 23 inches statuesque and weighing about 11 pounds, it is designed specifically for educational and research purposes. It has as much as 25 degrees of freedom of movement and can walk, dance, and perform other gestures.
NAO has sensors to detect its environment, cameras, microphones to recognize faces and objects, and to recognize and respond to voice. Therefore, it is widely used in schools, universities and research laboratories around the world to teach robotics, computer science and interaction with robots.
6.Nadine
Professor Nadia Thalmann and her team at NTU Singapore have designed Nadine, a highly evolved humanoid social robot for social interaction. They have human-like skin and hair and mimic human behavior to that of humans. Nadine has the ability to express feelings through her face and body.
In terms of aspects of anthropomorphism, Nadine has the function of recognizing and evaluating human emotions. She can smile, frown, and look surprised when answering or making calls, making the conversation more realistic. Nadine has a high level of NLP, which means she can speak, answer questions and recall information from previous discussions. This makes it suitable for work in customer service, companionship, and education.
Application
Advanced technology such as humanoid robots are rapidly revolutionizing various sectors through aspects such as flexibility, safety, and operational interaction with the user. Thus, as technology advances, humanoid robots will become exponentially more crucial as they will cross previously unthinkable boundaries in close human-robot interactions.
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