As part of Professor Jan Peters' Intelligent Autonomous Systems Group, the Laboratory for Humanoid Robotics will provide a platform for researching the interactions between motor skills, cognitive perception and human-robot interaction. For these research projects, TU Darmstadt has now acquired TALOS, a 1.75 metre tall and 95 kilogramme humanoid - i.e. human-like - robot from Pal Robotics. It can lift six kilograms per outstretched arm, climb stairs, walk on uneven terrain, manipulate objects with its gripping hands and work together with human and mechanical colleagues. Another important feature for research with TALOS is torque control, which allows it to control its forces.
The team headed by laboratory manager Dr Oleg Arenz wants to use the robot for basic research into learning problems at various levels. The Robot offers unique prerequisites for this because it can perform particularly versatile tasks: Unlike other humanoids, it can walk while handling heavy objects and tools, is equipped with a large number of sensors, as well as impressive computing power, which is further enhanced by an integrated AI accelerator. This enables it to plan and execute even complex sequences. The motors and sensors built into the joints and the torque control also allow it to carry out movements precisely and smoothly. Arenz and his team are particularly interested in the interaction between hardware-based motor control and abstract thinking using artificial intelligence.

The acquisition costs of around 1.8 million euros for TALOS, its future expansion components for greater agility and dynamics, and the laboratory equipment are being funded in equal parts by TU Darmstadt and the German Research Foundation (DFG).