Humanoid’s HMND 01 Alpha robotic, which options two arms and a wheeled base. | Supply: Humanoid
At the moment, Humanoid introduced the launch of HMND 01 Alpha, a dual-armed cell manipulator for industrial use. The London-based robotics and AI developer stated it developed the robotic in simply seven months.
“Robots shouldn’t exchange individuals; they need to help them,” said Artem Sokolov, founding father of Humanoid. “After scaling my household’s manufacturing enterprise, I noticed firsthand the toll repetitive work took on workers, together with my very own grandparents. HMND 01 is constructed to fill the labor gaps, letting individuals to deal with extra significant work.”
Within the U.Ok. alone, producers reported greater than 58,000 unfilled vacancies, whereas throughout Europe, 26% of producers cited labor shortages as a crucial barrier to development and one of many sector’s largest challenges. Within the U.S., the scenario is much more extreme, with round 600,000 jobs presently unfilled — a determine projected to rise to 2.1 million by 2030.
“We’re concentrating on a $38 billion industrial TAM [total addressable market], projected to achieve $1 trillion by 2050, with a transparent path to market management in Europe,” he added. “Globally, robotic density averages 162 per 10,000 employees, and every further robotic can enhance total productiveness by as much as 7%, which suggests extra output, fewer errors, and fewer pressure on the crew. That’s why we see HMND 01 not simply as a machine, however as a step towards a extra sustainable and human‑centered future of labor.”
Humanoid stated it designed HMND 01 Alpha for testing throughout industrial services, gathering insights on which capabilities are market-ready, which want refinement, and what new capabilities are required. These learnings will assist to form its Beta wheeled robotic, scheduled for launch in Q3 2026.
Serial entrepreneur Sokolov based Humanoid in 2024. The firm, also called SKL Robotics Ltd., stated its mission is to develop commercially scalable, protected, and general-purpose humanoid robots. Since its founding, the corporate has raised $50 million in founder-led capital.
Contained in the HMND 01 Alpha
Humanoid stated its strategy to intelligence, which features a proprietary mixture of 360° simulation coaching and real-world knowledge flywheels, units it other than different builders. To this point, the crew claims it has seen twice the event pace at half the fee in comparison with conventional strategies.
The robotic stands at 220 cm (86.6 in.) tall and might attain speeds as much as 7.2 kph (round 4.4 mph). When utilizing each arms, it will possibly carry payloads of as much as 15 kg (33.1 lb.), with the power to elevate much more when objects are nearer to its physique. Its attain spans from the ground as much as 2 m (6.6 ft.), with shelf depths of as much as 60 cm (23.6 in), permitting it to choose items straight from the bottom or from excessive storage areas.
Alpha options 29 lively levels of freedom (DoF), excluding end-effectors, and is powered by AI-driven, end-to-end reasoning. Its end-effectors may be fitted with both a 12-DoF five-fingered hand or a 1-DoF parallel gripper, permitting the robotic to adapt to duties requiring both dexterity or easy/heavy dealing with. The top is provided with 360-degree RGB cameras and two depth sensors for complete notion.
Humanoid stated it plans to start out with deployments in warehouses, logistics hubs, and retail services. HMND 01 may tackle repetitive, bodily demanding duties comparable to choosing and sorting items, machine feeding, kitting, loading and unloading stock, and supporting packaging and fulfilment.
Humanoid is backed by $50 million in founder-led capital and and gives its methods via a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) mannequin.
The rise of cell manipulation
Lately, dual-legged, dual-armed humanoid robots have dominated many conversations in robotics. On the identical time, nevertheless, different builders have centered on sustaining the pliability of humanoids with a extra secure type of locomotion, a wheeled base.
There are just a few builders taking the same path to Humanoid. For instance, Kinisi Robotics gives the KR1, a dual-armed robotic with a cell base. The corporate has thus far centered on warehouse and storeroom functions with its robotic.
RoboForce earlier this yr unveiled its Titan cell manipulator, which it says works in demanding out of doors environments.
In the meantime, extra established robotics gamers have launched cell manipulators that look extra like conventional warehouse robots. For instance, Cellular Industrial Robots (MiR) launched its MC600 cell manipulator. That robotic combines the MiR600 AMR with the UR20 and UR30 collaborative robotic arms from Common Robots (UR). The MC600 earned MiR and UR mum or dad firm Teradyne a 2025 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award.
Editor’s notice: RoboBusiness 2025, which will likely be on Oct. 15 and 16 in Santa Clara, Calif., will function session tracks on humanoids, bodily AI, enabling applied sciences, design and improvement, area robotics, and enterprise. Registration is now open.
