Kojiro
![A humanoid robot with a system of artificial muscles, tendons and joints.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/7p2whiua/production/5d16e8b4861809a2cfe395944e520dded598010a-2048x1536.jpg?w=900&auto=format)
Kojiro is a humanoid with a musculoskeletal system that mimics how the human body works to generate motion. The goal is to build a robot that is light and agile, capable of moving much as people do.
- Creator
- Year
- 2007
- Country
- Japan 🇯🇵
- Categories
- Features
More videos
Did you know?
In one experiment, researchers programmed Kojiro to hula hoop, but the robot managed only two full revolutions.
![Close up of Kojiro's white face and open head through which cameras and electronics can be seen.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/7p2whiua/production/9edc5ca63f7b687cf18e48e64fce6403fa1f6349-2048x1536.jpg?rect=520,41,1005,1201&w=900&auto=format)
![Rear view of a humanoid robot whose structure is exposed.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/7p2whiua/production/f4ee48ed3dafb3a507830bbfe6881e5d485c10df-2048x1536.jpg?w=900&auto=format)
History
Kojiro was developed at the University of Tokyo's JSK lab, led by Professor Masayuki Inaba, in the late 2000s. One of the robot's main designers was Yuto Nakanishi, a researcher at the laboratory. Kojiro was designed to mimic the way our skeleton, muscles, and tendons work to generate motion.
![The robot is seated and posed at a table with it's hands clasped as it looks at the camera.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/7p2whiua/production/4d82ccf2d27c1b0441d7afc15ea9137fe7abee45-2048x1536.jpg?rect=403,0,1242,1536&w=900&auto=format)
![A crouched man holds the legs of a humanoid robot as it does a sit up.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/7p2whiua/production/f4316f1793240a3e2436ae0a2ba0d9bd52b18e57-2048x1536.jpg?w=900&auto=format)
More Images
![A white humanoid robot arches its "spine" so that it appears to be beginning to do a back bend.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/7p2whiua/production/23106730a07fe4f1b29ac59d50ca4d8c891e8af9-2048x1536.jpg?w=900&auto=format)
Specs
- Overview
Flexible spine, cable-driven actuation system
- Status
Inactive
- Year
2007
- Website
- Height
- 133 cm
- Weight
- 45 kg
- Sensors
Gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer, six-axis force sensors (in the ankles). Each actuator with rotary encoder, tension sensor, and current and temperature sensors.
- Actuators
Three 1.5-W DC motors, 20 4.5-W DC motors, and 76 40-W DC motors. Motors connected to cables to form artificial muscles.
- Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
- 56 (Spine: 12 DoF; Head: 3 DoF; Neck: 9 DoF; Leg: 8 DoF x 2; Arm: 5 DoF x 2; Hand: 3 DoF x 2)
- Materials
Tendons made of synthetic fibers, including Vectran, Dyneema, and Zylon.