Octavia

The robot has an expressive white face with eyes, nose, mouth, and a glowing square in its forehead. The robot has two arms with jointed human like silver fingers.
Octavia: a mobile, dexterous, and social robot. Photo: Naval Research Laboratory and Office of Naval Research

Octavia is a social humanoid robot with an expressive face and dexterous hands. It's designed to understand how humans perceive, think, and act, using her knowledge to interact naturally with people.

Creator

Naval Research Laboratory

Year
2009
Country
United States 🇺🇸
Categories
Features
Octavia extinguishes a fire. Video: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

More videos

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Appearance

Neutral

Did you know?

Octavia has two brothers, Lucas and Issac, and several cousins, including Nexi (at MIT) and Cindy (at Tufts University).

A black wheeled base and boxy torso support the robots expressive white face with eyes, nose, mouth, and a glowing square in its forehead. The robot has two arms with jointed human like silver fingers.
Octavia rides on a wheeled mobile base. Photo: Naval Research Laboratory and Office of Naval Research
Octavia stands at a table holding an object that a man is also gripping. The robot is the same height as the human.
Octavia uses AI to infer what human companions need. Photo: Naval Research Laboratory and Office of Naval Research

More Images

The robot stands in the doorway of a fake building spraying water onto a fire inside.
Octavia is training to be a fire-fighting robot. Photo: Naval Research Laboratory and Office of Naval Research
The robot is in a room with many white pipes. It gestures at a man wearing safety headphones and vest.
Octavia uses gestures to communicate in a loud location. Photo: Naval Research Laboratory and Office of Naval Research
The human sized wheeled robot is facing many people in a lab.
Dr. Greg Trafton introduces Octavia to lab visitors. Photo: Naval Research Laboratory and Office of Naval Research

Specs

Overview

Two-wheel self-balancing base for mobility. Able to use its hands for dexterous object manipulation. Expressive face for social interaction.

Status

Unknown

Year

2009

Website
Width
63.5 cm
Height
175 cm
Length
56 cm
Weight
168 kg
Speed
16 km/h
Sensors

Two video cameras in the eyes, 3D active infrared/visible camera in the forehead, LIDAR in the mobile base. Optional: 3D passive infrared camera, microphone array, fingertip pressure sensors.

Actuators

DC motors

Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
45 (Head: 20 DoF; Hand: 7 DoF x 2; Arm: 4 DoF x 2; Torso: 1 DoF; Wheels: 2 DoF)
Materials

Machined aluminum, plastic.

Compute

PC/104-based computer for body and base control; Intel PC for sensing.

Software

Linux and Windows OS, custom control and sensing software, ACT-R/E cognitive architecture.

Power

36-V lead-acid battery plus two lithium-ion batteries for drive system, 2 hours of operation.