Kaspar

A child-size humanoid with a peachy flesh-like face, eyes, nose and open mouth. It wears a black wig, blue cap and plaid shirt and extends its short arms out.
Kaspar, the friendly robot. Photo: Adaptive Systems Research Group/University of Hertfordshire

Kaspar is a child-sized humanoid robot whose face has simplified yet expressive features. It's been used for therapy with children with autism and as a research platform to study social robotics.

Creator

University of Hertfordshire

Year
2005
Country
United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Categories
Features
Kaspar helps children with autism. Video: University of Hertfordshire

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Did you know?

Kaspar's face is a mask used in training mannequins designed for teaching CPR.

A child-size humanoid robot that is meant to look like a young boy in jeans, socks, a plaid shirt and blue hat.
Most children don't find Kaspar creepy. Photo: Adaptive Systems Research Group/University of Hertfordshire
A child and the child-like robot mirror each others motions.
A child plays with the robot during an imitation game. Photo: Adaptive Systems Research Group/University of Hertfordshire

History

In 2005 University of Hertfordshire professors Kerstin Dautenhahn and Chrystopher Nehaniv led a small team to design a robot head for an experiment on how humans perceive robot faces. Not long after, a humanoid body was created under the supervision of Dr. Michael L. Walters. The researchers combined the robot head and body and the child-sized humanoid Kaspar was born. With contributions from other researchers of the Adaptive Systems research group, Kaspar has been used in human-robot interaction studies and for robot-assisted therapy for children with autism (work supervised by Dr. Ben Robins and Prof. Dautenhahn). While Kaspar's face may seem "creepy" to many people, children are generally interested in interacting with the robot, whose simplicity of features and movements provides a safe, non-threatening, nonjudgmental mediator for encouraging social interaction.

A man with grey hair and glasses adjusts the robot.
Dr. Ben Robins works with Kaspar. Photo: Adaptive Systems Research Group/University of Hertfordshire
A child-size humanoid robot makes an expressive face as it looks at its hands.
Kaspar shows his sad expression. Photo: Adaptive Systems Research Group/University of Hertfordshire

Specs

Overview

Face capable of showing different expressions. Fully autonomous, semi-autonomous, and remote-controlled modes.

Status

Ongoing

Year

2005

Website
Width
45 cm
Height
55 cm (seated posture)
Length
50 cm
Weight
15 kg
Sensors

Cameras in eyes. Force-sensing resistor or capacitive touch sensors.

Actuators

Dynamixel AX-12A robot servos and RC servos.

Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
17 (Arm: 4 DoF x 2; Neck: 3 DoF; Mouth: 2 DoF; Eyes: 2 DoF; Eyelids: 1 DoF; Torso: 1 DoF)
Materials

Fiberglass body; aluminum frame and head parts; silicone rubber face.

Compute

Controlled by external PC via USB. Or wirelessly using on-board mini PC.

Software

Custom Java software. YARP, C++, and Python interfaces optional.

Power

One 12-V 7-Ah lead acid battery, 4 hours of operation.

Cost
€250,000