Benchmarking Human-Like Posture and Locomotion of Humanoid Robots: A Preliminary Scheme

Abstract. The difficulty in defining standard benchmarks for human likeness is a well-known problem in bipedal robotics. This paper proposes the conceptual design of a novel benchmarking scheme for bipedal robots based on existing criteria and benchmarks related to the sensorimotor mechanisms involved in human walking and posture. The proposed scheme aims to be sufficiently generic to permit its application to a wide range of bipedal platforms, and sufficiently specific to rigorously test the sensorimotor skills found in humans. The achievement of global consensus on the definition of human likeness has a crucial importance not only in the field of humanoid robotics, but also in neuroscience and clinical settings. The EU project H2R is specifically dealing with this problem. A preliminary solution is here given to encourage the international discussion on this topic within the scientific community