The IEEE-RAS Technical Committee on Whole-Body Control awarded the Artificial and Mechanical Intelligence (AMI) Unit, headed by Daniele Pucci at IStituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology)
An international recognition for “exceptional research” in the field of robotics was awarded to Daniele Pucci and the Artificial and Mechanical Intelligence (AMI) Unit at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT – Italian Institute of Technology) by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE-RAS), the main robotics engineers’ association in the world. The award recognizes exceptional research in the field of whole-body control in robotics, which Pucci’s group conducted on humanoid robots to develop behaviors that reduce injury risks and enhance workplace ergonomics for humans in the future. The ceremony was held during the international conference IEEE Humanoids 2024 in Nancy, France, on November 24th.
The award is assigned annually by the IEEE-RAS Technical Committee on Whole-Body Control (TC-WBC) to the best paper presented the previous year. The award given to Pucci and his team is for the research paper they presented in 2023 at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in London, entitled “A Control Approach for Human-Robot Ergonomic Payload Lifting”. The same paper was also among the finalists for the Best Paper Award at that conference.
The research study shows the mathematical models, software, wearable technologies and artificial intelligence that are used to enable the interaction and cooperation between two agents, such as a human operator and a humanoid robot, during work activities. By continuously monitoring and controlling the movements of both bodies, the system allows the robot to assist humans in physically demanding tasks, such as carrying payloads.
Pucci’s group validated their research during various experiments with the humanoid robot iCub3 – one of the latest versions of the robot iCub, which was born 20 years ago at IIT – and a human operator wearing the sensorized system iFeel. The two elements have been designed to enable physical connection between humans and robots, featuring key aspects such as locomotion, manipulation, voice and facial expressions, and complete sensory feedback made of sight, hearing, touch and sense of weight and contact. The system was developed by IIT in collaboration with INAIL.
Most recently the entire system has evolved to be used with a new humanoid robot, the ergoCub, conceived to reduce the risk of injuries for workers in all types of work activities.
The research studies of IIT’s AMI Unit are the basis of the achievements they have obtained in the last five years in the field of collaborative robotics and the control of complex systems, such as humanoids. Therefore, the system made up of the robot iCub3 and the sensorized suit iFeel are the technologies that enabled various actions: allowing a human operator to cooperate with another person 300 km away, such as the distance between Genoa and the Venice Biennale; entertaining the public during public events or TV shows; and competing in the ANA Avatar XPrize challenge in Los Angeles as the only finalist two-legged robot. The award from the IEEE-RAS Technical Committee is further confirmation of the groundbreaking results achieved.
