CHARLI

A black and silver humanoid robot with white casing.
CHARLI's body is made of aluminum, carbon fiber, and plastic. Photo: Romela

CHARLI is an adult-size humanoid designed as a platform to study robot mobility and autonomy. It can walk, kick a ball, and change its posture to avoid falls if something (or someone) pushes on it.

Creators

UCLA and RoMeLa

Year
2011
Country
United States 🇺🇸
Categories
Features
First walking test of CHARLI-L2. Video: RoMeLa

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Did you know?

CHARLI was modeled on the NS-5 robots from the film "I, Robot" and the industrial robots that appear in Bjork's 1999 "All Is Full of Love" video.

Full body view of the bipedal humanoid robot.
The robot uses three dozen electric motors. Photo: Romela
Rear view of the bipedal humanoid robot showing exposed electronics.
The robot was designed to be as lightweight as possible. Photo: Romela

Audio

UCLA roboticist Dennis Hong, the creator of CHARLI, describes how the humanoid learned how to walk and became a robot soccer star.

UCLA roboticist Dennis Hong, the creator of CHARLI, describes how the humanoid learned how to walk and became a robot soccer star.

Photo: Dustin Fenstermacher/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Dennis Hong explains the main similarities and differences between CHARLI and other walking humanoids.

Dennis Hong explains the main similarities and differences between CHARLI and other walking humanoids.

Photo: RoMeLa
How do you take a humanoid robot on a plane? Dennis Hong describes his experiences going through airport security with CHARLI.

How do you take a humanoid robot on a plane? Dennis Hong describes his experiences going through airport security with CHARLI.

Photo: RoMeLa

More Images

A humanoid robot is almost as tall as the human next to them. They stand on a soccer course surrounded by onlookers as the robot tries to score a goal.
CHARLI gets ready for a kick at RoboCup 2011. Photo: Romela
A man in black shirt and jeans stands next to a white and black humanoid robot that is as tall as his chest.
CHARLI and its father, Professor Dennis Hong. Photo: Stephen Voss/Redux
Close up of metallic gears.
Close-up on CHARLI's ankle gears. Photo: Romela

Specs

Overview

Modular, lightweight design. Capable of reacting to external disturbances using an active stabilization strategy.

Status

Inactive

Year

2011

Website
Width
20 cm
Height
141 cm
Length
48 cm
Weight
12.1 kg
Speed
1.4 km/h (walking)
Sensors

Camera, three-axis rate gyro, three-axis accelerometer, two microphones, encoders in each joint.

Actuators

32 DC motors

Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
25 (Leg: 6 DoF x 2, Arm: 4 DoF x 2, Head: 2 DoF, Hand: 1 DoF x 2, Torso: 1 DoF)
Materials

Aluminum alloy, titanium, carbon-fiber composites, and plastics.

Compute

Single-board computer with 1.6 GHz Intel Atom CPU.

Software

Ubuntu Linux OS and custom operation and control program coded in C++ (LabVIEW version also implemented).

Power

14.8-V lithium-polymer battery for actuation and 11.1-V lithium-polymer battery for computing, 30 minutes of operation