ARMAR-4: A 63 DOF torque controlled humanoid robot

We present the mechatronic design of the next generation of our humanoid robots, the humanoid robot ARMAR-4, a full body torque controlled humanoid robot with 63 active degrees of freedom, 63 actuators, 214 sensors, 76 microcontroller for low-level control, 3 PCs for perception, high-level control and balancing, a weight of 70 kg including batteries and total height of 170 cm. In designing the robot we follow an integrated approach towards the implementation of high performance humanoid robot systems, able to act and interact in the real world using only on-board sensors and computation power. Special attention was paid to the realization of advanced bimanual manipulation and locomotion capabilities. The paper presents the design concept of the robot and its mechatronic realization.