Whole-Body Control

Whole-body control lets humanoid robots coordinate arms, legs, torso, and balance as a single system — solving for motion, torque, and task objectives across the entire body in real time. This enables complex actions like reaching while walking, shifting weight while lifting, or staying upright under external forces.Today’s systems combine model-based controllers with learned policies for greater adaptability and fluidity. Frameworks like WBOSC, Drake’s QP solvers, Stack-of-Tasks, and TSID support whole-body planning in labs and commercial prototypes often layered into custom stacks like TWIST.