Hardware Podcasts

Episode 126: Why are we building humanoid robots? - Robot Talk Live

Robot Talk · 20 Jun 2025 · 51m · Episode 126

What this episode covers

Ben Russell, Curator of Mechanical Engineering at the Science Museum, traces the history of humanoid robots from 18th-century automatons to modern research, highlighting the psychological drive of anthropomorphism. Maryam Banitalebi Dehkordi, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, discusses the use of humanoid robots in healthcare and education, noting the 'uncanny valley' effect and the importance of natural interaction for patients with dementia or autism. Petar Kormushev, Director of the Robot Intelligence Lab at Imperial College London, explains how his lab uses reinforcement learning and imitation learning on robots like 'De Niro' to enable autonomous skill acquisition in unpredictable environments.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Science Museum, Shadow Robot, Honda, Boston Dynamics
Products
Echibot, De Niro, iCub, COMAN, Asimo, Pepper, Carebots, Baymax

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