L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 4 F or the first time in t h e w o r l d , a humanoid robot has lifted itself 20 i n c h e s o f f t h e ground. Eight years of calculations, aerodynamic prototypes, and fluid dynamics research have culminated in the flight of iRonCub3, a robot designed to assist people in disaster- s t r i c k e n a r e a s o r e x p l o r e extreme environments. The credit goes to the IIT – Istituto Italiano di Tec- nologia in Genoa, where mechanics and artificial intel- l i g e n c e c o m e t o g e t h e r t o design and develop robots that resemble us, perform tasks similar to ours, and i n t e r a c t w i t h h u m a n s i n increasingly sophisticated ways, transforming what was until recently the stuff of sci- ence fiction into cutting-edge scientific reality. Founded in 2003 to promote advanced education and technological development in Italy, IIT has gained increasing recogni- t i o n o n t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e s e a r c h s c e n e , b o a s t i n g 1,927 researchers, 1,337 patents, 22,391 publica- tions, and strategic achieve- ments ranging from nano- materials to lifetech, RNA technologies, computational sciences, robotics – and now, t h i s e x t r a o r d i n a r y f l y i n g humanoid. The dream of a humanoid Icarus is a uniquely Italian breakthrough, thanks to a team of researchers led by Daniele Pucci, director of t h e A r t i f i c i a l a n d Mechanical Intelligence (AMI) Lab at IIT Genoa. The first experimental flight of the small robot – just over 3 f e e t t a l l a n d w e i g h i n g around 154 pounds, with a childlike face and protective coverings shielding the artifi- cial intelligence within – is a milestone far beyond a world record or a journal publica- tion. It's a major scientific achievement. The research, published in Nature Com- munications Engineer- ing (authored by Antonello P a o l i n o , G a b r i e l e N a v a , F a b i o D i N a t a l e , F a b i o B e r g o n t i , P u n i t h R e d d y Vanteddu, Donato Grassi, Luca Riccobene, Alex Zanot- ti, Renato Tognaccini, Gian- luca Iaccarino, and Daniele Pucci), is the result of collab- oration between IIT's robot- ics team, the Daer Aerody- n a m i c s L a b a t t h e Politecnico di Milano, led by Alex Zanotti (who over- saw wind tunnel tests: the f i r s t e v e r i n v o l v i n g a humanoid robot in a facility typically used for aircraft and Formula One vehicles), and G i a n l u c a I a c c a r i n o ' s team at Stanford Univer- sity, which employed deep learning algorithms to iden- tify aerodynamic models. With iRonCub3 , Italy has reached a frontier never crossed before, and a highly competitive milestone on the global stage. The goals ahead are even m o r e a m b i t i o u s , b u t t h e work already accomplished has been formidable. iRon- Cub3 is propelled into the air by four jet engines – two mounted on its arms and two on a jetpack on its back – providing the thrust needed t o o v e r c o m e g r a v i t y . I t s movement is guided by fine- l y t r a i n e d n e u r a l n e t - works, allowing it to assess how to maneuver in flight. This is not a conventional drone or rocket, where tra- jectories and air resistance follow predictable models; iRonCub3 does not have a s y m m e t r i c a l o r c o m p a c t f r a m e , b u t a n e l o n g a t e d shape, with weight distrib- uted across its torso, arms, and mobile legs. It is a mov- ing body made of metal – t i t a n i u m , t o w i t h s t a n d e x h a u s t g a s e s n e a r i n g 1,470°F – alongside delicate sensors and circuits, with variable mass and limbs that move in ways not unlike our own. To fly, it must manage turbulent airflows that can produce more than 1,000 n e w t o n s o f t h r u s t a n d e x t r e m e l y h i g h t e m p e r a - tures. In the air, the robot seeks a dynamic balance: it must lift off, estimate its own body position, find stability under rocket propulsion, and e x e c u t e c o n t r o l l e d f l i g h t maneuvers, even amid wind turbulence or uncertain envi- ronmental conditions. It's a full-scale challenge i n a f i e l d , m u l t i m o d a l locomotion robotics, that is not only highly competi- tive, but also exceptionally demanding, full of unknowns and obstacles. That's because m e c h a n i c a l d e s i g n m u s t w o r k i n t a n d e m w i t h t h e training of a deep neural net- w o r k , w h i c h c a l c u l a t e s adjustments and behaviors as it learns from real-time data. "This research is radi- cally different from tradi- tional humanoid robotics and has forced us to make a substantial leap beyond the current state of the art," says Daniele Pucci. In his interview with L'I- The first flying humanoid: made in Italy, designed for the world BARBARA MINAFRA NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS CONTINUED TO PAGE 6 iRonCub3, the first humanoid robot in the world equipped with jet propulsion, capable of lifting itself 50 centimeters off the ground while maintaining stability, designed by the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) (Photo courtesy of Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia IIT)

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