Towards shared embodied intelligence in humanoid robots through optimization, development and testing of the human-aware ergoCub robot

Nature Machine Intelligence, Published online: 13 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s42256-026-01272-2 Sartore et al. present ergoCub, a humanoid robot that prioritizes human safety at hardware and motion levels. Using a shared embodied intelligence framework, design and control are jointly optimized with human-related metrics such as back stress alongside locomotion objectives, reducing spinal load and improving walking robustness.