Need: Programmable robot for writing a control algorithm that simulates walking

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1

Hello all,

I am a research assistant working in a university lab. We record human gait testing and use the data to write a control algorithm. We are looking for a robot that we can upload this control algorithm into. We need something that has enough degrees of freedom in the legs to simulate human motion, and we need it to be programmable.

We use Matlab and Python to write our code, but may be open to other methods. We would also like to have something that has lots of resources available to us. I did a little research on the Robot Operating System (ROS) and maybe that functionality would be nice to have as well.

Our lab is looking to order at least 2 robots. We are considering the NAO and the DARwin-OP robot. What are the pro’s and con’s to each of these robots in terms of ease of programming, human walking characteristics, and available resources?

Thank you.

2

Both robots have the same number of degrees of freedom in the legs. Nao has Python and Matlab support but since it is bigger can be slower to move. Darwin , on the other hand, has no direct support for matlab or a Python APi, but does run a standard Linux distribution, which means you can program the motion manually using the usual tools.