Humanoid Robots: Fundamentals And Applications

Humanoid robots represent the pinnacle of biomimetic machines, possessing a human‑like form and motion that enable them to emulate human actions and behaviors. This book is a comprehensive textbook on humanoid‑robot technology, covering a broad spectrum of knowledge from fundamental theory to cutting‑edge advances. The book systematically explains kinematic and dynamic modelling of humanoid robots, basic walking control, learning‑based motion control, navigation control, perception technologies, mechanical design, and practical motion‑control applications.

Its content is rich and well‑structured, emphasizing the systematization, applicability, and frontier nature of the material, and highlighting the novelty of the selected topics. By studying it thoroughly, readers will acquire a solid grasp of the core principles and practical skills of humanoid‑robot technology, laying a firm foundation for future research and practice in the field.

This textbook can serve as a guidebook for undergraduate students in robotics engineering, automation, artificial intelligence, mechatronics, electronic information, and related graduate programs, and it is also a valuable reference for engineers and researchers engaged in the development and research of humanoid‑robot technology.

Wei Zhang, Professor and PhD advisor at Shandong University; IEEE Senior Member. His primary research and teaching focus is on artificial intelligence and robotics. In recent years, he has led more than 20 projects, including Major and Key Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key Research and Development Program, and Shandong Provincial Major Special Projects. He has directed five provincial or ministerial-level educational reform projects, developed two provincial-level featured or premium courses, and received more than 10 teaching and research awards, including the Second Prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award, the Second Prize of the National University Artificial Intelligence Education Teaching Achievement Award, the Special Prize of the Shandong Provincial Teaching Achievement Award, the First Prize for Excellent Textbooks from the Shandong Automation Society, the First Prize of the Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Technology Invention Award, and the Second Prize of the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Award.
Guoyu Zuo, Professor and PhD advisor at Beijing Institute of Technology. He has long been engaged in robotics research and has led more than 20 research projects commissioned by government agencies and enterprises. He has published over 100 academic papers and holds more than 50 invention patents in China and the United States. Under his supervision, his students have won the Grand Prize at the "Challenge Cup" National College Students' Extracurricular Academic and Technological Works Competition, along with over 50 gold medals and first prizes in international and national robotics competitions. He has served as the chief editor of three textbooks, one of which has been recognized as a Beijing Municipal Model Textbook, and has received the First Prize for Beijing Educational and Teaching Achievement.
Xingxing Wang, Founder of Unitree Robotics. He developed the XDog quadruped robot, the first high-performance legged robot driven by an external-rotor brushless motor, establishing a new technological benchmark for low-cost, high-performance legged machines. In 2017, he first publicly released a high-performance quadruped robot for retail, maintaining worldwide sales leadership for several consecutive years. In 2023 and 2024, Unitree successfully launched the H1 and G1 general-purpose humanoid robots, dramatically accelerating the commercial deployment of quadruped robots worldwide and advancing humanoid robot technology. In 2023, he was selected as one of Fortune China’s “40 Business Leaders Under 40.”