Reader euProbe writes, "A consortium of European universities aspires to create the first "open-source" humanoid research platform (hardware+software) called iCub. The urgency has to do with the call for submitting research proposals (The deadline is Dec 7th). A few lucky winners could win the first iCub kits!" RobotCub is a five year European Commission project to implement a humanoid robot platform approximately the size of a two year old child. Both the hardware design and software will be licensed under GNU GPL, making the design freely available to everyone. The group is asking for proposals (PDF format) on using the iCup robot for embodied artificial intelligence research. The eight best proposals will receive iCub kits. Unfotunately, there are only two days left in the proposal period, so get started now! For more details, see iCup wiki. Incidently, the Open Pino Platform was probably the first major free hardware design for a humanoid robot to see major usage.