Next Step In Iran's Humanoid Robot

The likes of Asimo, Valkyrie and ATLAS better make some room, as there's a new humanoid robot on the block – and it looks not unlike the Gort bot from the original The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Iran’s University of Tehran this week put on display the Surena III, the latest generation of its humanoid robot, In a demonstration, the adult-sized robot walked across a stage, imitated a person’s arm gestures, and stood on one foot while bending backwards. Capable of understanding select phrases in Farsi and mimicking human movements. Which it says will be used for research into robotics.

Designed as a robotics research platform, Surena III was created by a team at the university's Center of Advanced Systems and Technologies (CAST), led by Prof. Aghil Yousefi-Koma.

According to Dr. Aghil Yousefi-Koma, a professor of mechanical engineering who leads the Surena project, tells IEEE Spectrum that the robot is designed as a research platform to explore bipedal locomotion, human-robot interaction, and other challenges in robotics. He also hopes Surena can help show the importance of engineering careers to students and the public, adding that he views the robot as a symbol of technology advancement “in the direction of peace and humanity.”

The robot, named Surena III, took four years to build. It's human-like form allows it to grasp objects, stand on one foot, walk on uneven surfaces, and even kick a ball. Surena III can also track a person's motions, detect objects, and recognize faces, according to IEEE Spectrum.

With a sleek plastic casing and bright LED eyes, Surena III is 1.9 meters (6 feet 3 inches) tall and weighs in at 98 kilograms (216 lbs). It’s equipped with a host of sensors, including a Kinect-based 3D vision module, and its joints are powered by 31 servomotors. The control software running on the robot and a monitoring system used by human operators to supervise its functions are based on the popular Robot Operating System, or ROS.

The robot is also able to interact with people thanks to its vision, voice recognition and (Persian-language) speech modules, running on custom software developed using the Robot Operating System. It can additionally monitor its onboard sensors, detect objects/faces, and imitate peoples' motions.

Compared to some of the world’s most advanced humanoids, Surena seems to have more limited capabilities. Honda’s famed Asimo can run and hop on one foot, and a new, experimental humanoid the company is developing can even climb a vertical ladder. Several robots that participated in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, a disaster-response competition inspired by the Fukushima nuclear emergency, were able to perform tasks like driving a vehicle, operating power tools, and walking over a pile of bricks. These robots included Atlas, developed by Boston Dynamics (a company acquired by Alphabet); Carnegie Mellon’s CHIMP; and South Korea’s DRC-HUBO, the winner of the competition.

Surena has yet to demonstrate that level of mobility and dexterity, but the Iranian humanoid has been making steady progress in the past seven years. The first version of the robot, unveiled in 2008, had only 8 degrees of freedom (DOF). Surena 2, announced in 2010, had 22 DOF and could walk at a pace of 0.03 meters per second. Now the third generation of the robot has 31 DOF and a walking speed nearly 10 times as fast, at 0.2 m/s.

Dr. Yousefi-Koma, who heads University of Tehran’s Center for Advanced Systems and Technologies (CAST), where Surena was developed, says he followed the DRC events and, although Surena was not developed to participate in that competition, “one of the best applications for this robot may be employing it in disasters.”

He says Surena III, funded by the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran, is currently able to walk up and down stairs and ramps, adapt to irregularities on the ground, grasp objects, and also kick a soccer ball.