Safety

In humanoid robotics, safety spans both physical interaction and system reliability. Robots must avoid hitting people, dropping objects, or damaging themselves. A safe system walks, grasps, and reasons without cascading failures from misinterpretation or delay.

Hardware plays the first role: compliant actuators, soft shells, and force-limited joints reduce physical risk. Control systems add fall prediction, real-time collision detection, and trajectory constraint solvers. Sensors track force, proximity, and intent to dynamically modulate behavior.

Some platforms ship with embedded emergency stop (“e-stop”) logic — intervening when force, speed, or contact thresholds are breached. Others explore proactive intent recognition, anticipating when a human may cross a path or reach in. As autonomy grows, safety becomes a question of cognition. Systems must fail safely, be interruptible, and offer behavior that can be verified.