Description:

iRonCub is the world’s first jet-powered humanoid robot developed by the Italian Institute of Technology. The goal of iRonCub is to enhance the locomotion capabilities of humanoid robots by equipping them with the ability to fly. This area of research remains largely unexplored, making this project the first of its kind in the field of robotics. The robot has four jet turbines attached to it. Two of them are on the robot’s back to act as a jetpack, and the other two are on actuated arms to help stabilize itself.

One of my contributions to the iRonCub team was the development of the estimator to calculate the base pose and velocity of the robot during operation. To accomplish this task, I utilized two of the robot’s on-board sensors—the Xsens MTI-670G and the Realsense T265—and combined the provided sensor measurements with the robot’s motion model using a UKF. This estimation is essential to the robot’s takeoff sequence, supplying the controller with necessary feedback to correct for disturbances.

My other notable contributions to the iRonCub team included developing middleware ​drivers for various sensors. I developed middleware drivers for the Realsense T265, and a BME688 temperature, pressure, and humidity sensor (used to collect data from the jet turbines) to integrate with YARP. Additionally, I developed software applications to assist with the testing of the robot, such as a real-time logger that displayed the robot’s live state during its takeoff sequence.

It was a dream come true to work on and develop the world’s first flying jet-powered humanoid robot in Italy alongside some of the world’s brightest scientists. I acquired an immense amount of knowledge from this incredible project and have applied these learning experiences to my professional skillset. iRonCub’s first successful takeoff was in March 2025; since then, a preprint of the work has been released.