Domo: a force sensing humanoid robot for manipulation research

Humanoid robots found in research and commercial use today typically lack the ability to operate in unstructured and unknown environments. Force sensing and compliance at each robot joint can allow the robot to safely act in these environments. However, these features can be difficult to incorporate into robot designs. We present a new force sensing and compliant humanoid under development in the humanoid robotics group at MIT CSAIL. The robot, named Domo, is to be a research platform for exploring issues in general dexterous manipulation, visual perception, and learning. In this paper we describe aspects of the design, detail proposed research directions for the robot, and illustrate how the design of humanoid robots can be informed by the desired research goals.