Nadia
About
About Nadia
Nadia is IHMC's legacy humanoid research platform, developed with Boardwalk Robotics, Morfey and H4 Labs. The programme investigated high power-to-weight performance and a range of motion approaching that of a person, using the robot to develop autonomous and semi-autonomous behaviour in human environments. Its design addressed movement through structures where stairs, ladders and debris limit conventional ground robots.
The 29-joint system combines hydraulic and electric actuation, including Moog Integrated Smart Actuators, custom electric pelvis actuators and commercial arm actuators. IHMC's programme demonstrated and studied activities including balancing, boxing, table tennis and door traversal. Nadia is a legacy platform, succeeded by Alex. Nadia's hardware and research history remain separate from Alex's newer onboard architecture.
Capabilities
Source-backed capabilities
- Operating environments: IHMC research laboratory, Intended laboratory door-traversal setup
- Control modes: Teleoperated, Autonomous
- Doors and articulated objects
Claimed - Open doors with handles, doorknobs or push bars using pincer fingers. - environment: Intended laboratory door-traversal setup
Source - Table-tennis play
Research demonstration - Play table tennis with a human opponent under VR teleoperation. - environment: IHMC research laboratory
Source
Observed use
Exact-product configurations are shown without inferring supply, purchase, customer status, standard fit, deployment or partnership.
- SAKE Robotics EZGripper
2023-06-20 - Research Experiment - Mounted - Physical - Nadia used a SAKE Robotics EZGripper during a supervised can pick-and-place experiment on 20 June 2023.
Source
Research
- A System for Fast, Resilient, and Adaptable Loco-Manipulation Behaviors on Humanoid Robots
2026-06-24 - Research Publication - Humanoid robots could take on physically demanding, hazardous, and repetitive work in spaces built for humans. However, a useful robot for these spaces must coordinate locomotion, whole body motion, perception, contact, and operator supervision.
Source - Mixed Reality Teleoperation Assistance for Direct Control of Humanoids
2024-11-01 - Research Publication - A mixed-reality teleoperation method combines operator motion with probabilistic movement primitives and affordance templates, evaluated on Nadia.
Source
Timeline
- IHMC releases Nadia humanoid progress demonstration
2022-10-05 - Demonstration - The design combines joints intended to approach human ranges of motion in the hips and knees with a carbon-fibre exoskeleton. The Office of Naval Research awarded IHMC $3 million in summer 2022 to continue Nadia's development. The project targets mobility and manipulation around stairs, ladders and debris for potential hazardous-environment work.
Source