Humanoid Robots Developed in Spain: Verified Projects Guide

PAL Robotics has developed humanoid and service robots in Barcelona for two decades. REEM-C became a full-size biped research platform, while TALOS moved toward torque-controlled joints and physically demanding research. These machines are sold or supplied as platforms for laboratories rather than presented as general household products.

That distinction matters. A research humanoid gives universities access to a stable body, software interfaces and safety controls. The customer still develops the task policy, perception stack and experimental setup.

TALOS is an electrically actuated biped with joint torque sensing and EtherCAT communication. Researchers use it for balance, manipulation, human assistance and industrial-task studies. Torque feedback supports compliant contact and whole-body control, where the robot must manage forces while keeping its feet stable.

Published work includes physical assistance experiments in which a person exerts substantial force during sit-to-stand motion. Such studies test stability and interaction under controlled conditions; they do not establish unsupervised care deployment.

PAL Robotics’ KANGAROO project is a lower-body humanoid prototype with high-power linear electric actuators and hybrid serial-parallel leg mechanisms. The design places major actuators closer to the base, reducing mass in the lower legs.

Lower distal mass can reduce the inertia that must be accelerated during a step. The published modeling work compares KANGAROO with TALOS and includes simulation plus preliminary tests on the physical platform. KANGAROO should therefore be described as an experimental prototype, not a commercial full humanoid.

RoboticsLab at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid developed TEO, a human-scale biped used for locomotion, manipulation and assistive interaction. Research demonstrations have included ironing and Spanish Sign Language. A published study evaluated sign-language representations with 16 deaf or hearing-impaired participants.

These experiments show how a humanoid body can be used to study communication and domestic assistance. They also expose the difficulty of reliable biped movement and fine manipulation in human environments.

Spain has a credible humanoid ecosystem because commercial hardware and university research reinforce each other. PAL Robotics supplies platforms and develops new mechanisms, while UC3M and other laboratories study control, assistance and interaction.

The next useful evidence will be long-duration task results, maintenance data and clear autonomy labels. A platform can be technically mature as research hardware while the applications running on it remain experimental.