Dreamer

Close up of a robots head. The robot has an orange headpiece, glowing blue cat ears and large green eyes.
Dreamer's face was inspired by Japanese anime. Photo: Meka Robotics

Dreamer is a research robot developed to be social and work closely with people. It uses compliant actuators, and its head is expressive but deliberately cartoonish to make it easier to interact with.

Creators

UT Austin and Meka Robotics

Year
2012
Country
United States 🇺🇸
Categories
Features
A Dreamer demo at a robotics conference. Video: BotJunkie

More videos

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Overall Rating

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Appearance

Neutral

Did you know?

Dreamer's eyes are very high performance and can move just as fast as human eyes can.

A robot with an orange headpiece, glowing blue cat ears and large green eyes, and a silver frame with two arms with grippers.
Strike a pose. Photo: Meka Robotics

Specs

Overview

Capable of performing whole-body compliant control. Equipped with series elastic actuators to absorb shocks and provide safe operation.

Status

Inactive

Year

2012

Website
Width
81.28 cm
Height
172.7 cm
Length
81.3 cm
Weight
90.7 kg
Speed
5.4 km/h
Sensors

Camera, joint position and torque sensors, force sensors (in the wrists and fingers), inertial measurement unit.

Actuators

Series elastic actuators (in the arms), brushless DC motors (torso, head, and base), omnidirectional wheels.

Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
31
Compute

Intel Core i5 computer

Software

Ubuntu Linux OS and RTAI with Whole-Body Control Framework v1.1, Meka M3 server for communications, and skills programmed using YAML directives.

Power

Lead-acid batteries, 15 to 45 minutes of operation

Cost
$400,000