Bowen Weng’s research aims to make humanoid robots not only cool, but safe

A modest room tucked deep inside Atanasoff Hall on Iowa State University’s campus is a surprisingly low-tech environment for the two highly advanced legged humanoid robots and one quadruped robot that reside there.

The largest of the humanoid robots stands about 6 feet tall. The smaller humanoid is about the height of a 10-year-old child, and the dog-like quadruped is roughly the stature of a beagle.

Using state-of-the-art computer science tools and methodologies, Bowen Weng, assistant professor of computer science, and several graduate and Ph.D. students are developing and testing new ways to make the robots more physically advanced, though their human- and dog-like attributes are already quite impressive.

With the help of computer software and a hand-held controller, like those used with video-gaming systems, Weng and his students can command the humanoid robots to stand up from a lying position, sit down, walk, turn around, wave their arms, and shake hands. The dog-like quadruped robot stands; sits; leaps; walks forward, backward, and sideways; and shakes hands.

Witnessing robots move as if they are human and canine is a fascinating experience, one that still excites Weng today.

“It is super fun to be a roboticist, especially a roboticist that works with physical robots,” Weng said. “On top of that, if we are ever to achieve economic improvement, if we are able to push this society forward, humanity forward, we have to do things faster and more efficient. We have to do more things, and automation is a step to helping us achieve that goal.”

Safety first

But there’s much more to Weng’s research than simply making humanoid robots become, well, more like humans. He wants to ensure that as advancements to physical robots increase, there are also testing standards in place that allow robots and humans to interact safely.

“A very large portion of effort is being poured into development [of robots], and that all makes sense. We all like to see robots work. It’s fantastic,” Weng said. “But very little effort is being put into the other side of the story – to fight against the blowup of technology.”

One of Weng’s recent papers, “Repeatable and Reliable Efforts of Accelerated Risk Assessment in Robot Testing,” aims to enhance existing accelerated testing frameworks for robots by proposing a new algorithm that is both repeatable and reliable. The study also assesses a robot’s risk of instability from disturbances caused by frontal impacts.

Weng’s research revealed that the new algorithm works reliably and with high probability, and that future testing with other robot types is promising. However, don’t expect to see humanoid robots routinely interacting with people any time soon; more safety measures are still necessary.

“This research makes an ‘indirect’ impact towards a safer robot,” Weng said. “We did not make any contribution to enhance the robot’s specific capabilities. We did do something to enhance the test algorithm’s specific capabilities, which can be used against the robots someday.”

Weng will present this study at the prestigious 2025 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation later this spring.

A second new study by Weng and a team of researchers evaluates the stability, balance, and path-following capabilities of commercial quadrupeds – dog-like robots – in both lab settings and aboard an American naval prototype ship.

The study, “Experimental Evaluation of Commercial Quadruped Robots: Stability and Performance in Non-inertial Environments,” concluded that while the quadrupeds demonstrated keen capabilities, challenges with accurate body positioning during aggressive ground motion remain.

“[Humans] walk and run fine, to a certain extent, on moving trains that shake, turn, and stop abruptly. We maintain stability on boats that oscillate with various waves,” Weng explained. “This study is one of the first to evaluate the performance of legged robots, particularly quadruped robots on such ‘moving’ ground.”

Undergraduate research opportunities

Though Weng is dedicated to developing standardized safety measures for robots, he is equally committed to guiding undergraduate students in their own innovative journeys. Currently, he is leading four undergraduate computer science teams, comprised of five students each, who are working with legged robots and robotic arms.

The project involving legged robots is a nod to the 2011 science fiction film, “Real Steel.” The students’ goal is to enable a humanoid robot to perform boxing skills by replicating human behavioral demonstrations.

“We’re trying to do human motion mimicking with the humanoid robot,” Weng said. “The idea is you have a humanoid [robot] stand there and look at what you’re doing, like upper-body motion, and [the robot] does it.”

Another group of Weng’s undergraduate students are programming robotic arms to move chess pieces. This experiment is inspired by IBM engineer Joseph Hoane who physically moved chess pieces on behalf of the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue, which competed against world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1996 and 1997.

The computer science students intend to develop new algorithms that will allow the robotic arms to move chess pieces without human intervention.

“This is the first project ever where we put those arms into actual educational usage,” Weng said.

Weng said this is the first semester students have used the robotic arms, but it won’t be the last. He expects research opportunities with the robotic arms to grow once the new Robotics Education Laboratory in Durham Hall is fully up and running. The lab currently contains eight robotic arms for research and teaching purposes.

Moving forward

Weng’s ultimate research goal is to create robots that advance society forward, but in a safe and responsible manner.

“My focus is providing some type of assurance, making [robots] trustworthy and trustable,” he said. “You have to be able to trust it.”

So, he will continue to develop, modify, and enhance the robots that live deep inside Atanasoff Hall so that someday humans and robots can safely coexist.