DARoS Lab
Dynamic and Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARoS) Laboratory · Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, KAIST
We build robotic systems for humans
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The Dynamic and Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARoS) Laboratory develops robotic systems for humans by advancing the speed, intelligence, and robustness of robots. Our research spans mechanism design, optimization-based control, reinforcement learning, robot perception, and human–robot interaction — all critical to enabling robots to function in the real world. Recent projects include a humanoid robot with actuated toes (PresToe), a single-legged hopping robot (StaccaToe), and a guide-dog robot for blind and low-vision navigation. More recently, we have been extending our scope to manipulation and robotic hand design.
The lab launches at KAIST’s Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI in February 2027, continuing work previously carried out at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (DARoS Lab @ UMass Amherst).
Prospective students: we are recruiting graduate students and interns. If you want to build humanoid and quadruped robots, develop assistive systems for people with disabilities, or help establish a new definition of physical intelligence, please submit an application through our Google form.
news
| Feb 15, 2027 | The DARoS Lab opens at KAIST, joining the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI. We are recruiting graduate students and interns — see Join Us. |
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| Jul 30, 2026 | NSF CAREER Award: leveraging toes for agile humanoid locomotion |
| May 20, 2026 | Daniel Marew defends the lab's first PhD |
| Mar 05, 2026 | GuideNav wins a Systems Paper Honorable Mention at HRI 2026 |
| Oct 01, 2025 | New NSF award to support research on modeling human agile locomotion. |
selected publications
- The MIT Humanoid Robot: Design, Motion Planning, and Control for Acrobatic BehaviorsIn IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), 2021
- Dynamic Locomotion for Passive-Ankle Biped Robots and Humanoids Using Whole-Body Locomotion ControlThe International Journal of Robotics Research, 2020
- Vision Aided Dynamic Exploration of Unstructured Terrain with a Small-Scale Quadruped RobotIn IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2020
- Computationally-Robust and Efficient Prioritized Whole-Body Controller with Contact ConstraintsIn IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2018
- System Configuration and Navigation of a Guide Dog Robot: Toward Animal Guide Dog-Level Guiding WorkIn IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2023
- Event Camera-Based Visual Odometry for Dynamic Motion Tracking of a Legged Robot Using Adaptive Time SurfaceIn IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2023
- CEAR: Comprehensive Event Camera Dataset for Rapid Perception of Agile Quadruped RobotsIEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2024
- Learning Generic and Dynamic Locomotion of Humanoids Across Discrete TerrainsIn IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), 2024
- StaccaToe: A Single-Leg Robot That Mimics the Human Leg and ToeIn IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2024
- Integration of Riemannian Motion Policy with Whole-Body Control for Collision-Free Legged LocomotionIn IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), 2023
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