KAIST humanoid robot walks into Assembly audit, survives a shove
The 180 cm robot kept its balance after a lawmaker pushed its chest, and performed an AI-learned moonwalk to 'Billie Jean' on its way out.
KAIST's humanoid robot KAIST 휴머노이드 v0.7 entered a National Assembly audit session on October 20, demonstrating balance control and a moonwalk, according to digitaltoday.co.kr.
The robot stands about 180 cm tall, has a silver-and-black body and a build similar to an adult male. It can run at up to 12–13 km/h and step over obstacles taller than 30 cm, and it is designed to carry out whole-body motions such as walking like a duck, playing soccer and carrying objects.
During the demonstration the robot stayed upright after a lawmaker pushed its chest several times. It adjusts its center of gravity by sensing external force and controlling dozens of joint motors. The research team designed and built key drive components, including motors, reducers and motor drivers, in-house.
As it left the room, the robot performed a moonwalk to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". According to KAIST, the robot runs on reinforcement-learning-based AI control, and the moonwalk was learned by the AI rather than input by a person.
The audit was held at KAIST in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon and covered 54 institutions, including the National Research Council of Science & Technology, KIST and ETRI. The lawmaker who introduced the robot during questioning, Hwang Jung-a of the Democratic Party of Korea, earned her doctorate at KAIST.
Quick answers
How tall is KAIST 휴머노이드 v0.7?
About 180 cm, with a silver-and-black body and a build similar to an adult male.
How fast can the KAIST humanoid robot run?
It can run at up to 12–13 km/h and step over obstacles taller than 30 cm.
How did the robot learn its moonwalk?
According to KAIST, the moonwalk was learned by its reinforcement-learning-based AI rather than input by a person.