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7 hours ago Researchers at GenerativeBionics, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) and University of Manchester recently introduced a framework that could guide the design of robots that interact with humans more safely, efficiently and adaptively. Their design strategy, introduced in a paper published in Nature Machine Intelligence, was already used to create a new humanoid robot called ergoCub.

"Our work grew out of many years of experience developing different generations of humanoid robots," Carlotta Sartore and Daniele Pucci, the paper's first and senior authors, respectively, told Tech Xplore. "During this time, we repeatedly observed that robot hardware was often treated as fixed, while the control system was expected to compensate for its physical limitations. Written for you by our author Ingrid Fadelli, edited by Lisa Lock, and fact-checked and reviewed by Robert Egan—this article is the result of careful human work. We rely on readers like you to keep independent science journalism alive. If this reporting matters to you, please consider a donation (especially monthly). You'll get an ad-free account as a thank-you.

Publication details

Carlotta Sartore et al, Towards shared embodied intelligence in humanoid robots through optimization, development and testing of the human-aware ergoCub robot, Nature Machine Intelligence (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s42256-026-01272-2

Journal information: Nature Machine Intelligence

Key concepts

Embodied robotic manipulationAutonomous robotic locomotionHumanoid robotics

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