NimbRo-OP2: Grown-up 3D Printed Open Humanoid Platform for Research
This provides an accessible platform for robotics researchers to study humanoid interactions in human-scale environments, though it is incremental in improving affordability and openness.
The authors tackled the lack of affordable, open-source, full-sized humanoid research platforms by introducing NimbRo-OP2X, a 3D-printed robot that is 135cm tall and 18kg, which won the RoboCup 2017 Humanoid League AdultSize Soccer competition and Technical Challenge.
The versatility of humanoid robots in locomotion, full-body motion, interaction with unmodified human environments, and intuitive human-robot interaction led to increased research interest. Multiple smaller platforms are available for research, but these require a miniaturized environment to interact with---and often the small scale of the robot diminishes the influence of factors which would have affected larger robots. Unfortunately, many research platforms in the larger size range are less affordable, more difficult to operate, maintain and modify, and very often closed-source. In this work, we introduce NimbRo-OP2X, an affordable, fully open-source platform in terms of both hardware and software. Being almost 135cm tall and only 18kg in weight, the robot is not only capable of interacting in an environment meant for humans, but also easy and safe to operate and does not require a gantry when doing so. The exoskeleton of the robot is 3D printed, which produces a lightweight and visually appealing design. We present all mechanical and electrical aspects of the robot, as well as some of the software features of our well-established open-source ROS software. The NimbRo-OP2X performed at RoboCup 2017 in Nagoya, Japan, where it won the Humanoid League AdultSize Soccer competition and Technical Challenge.