- Diverse Roles: By 2025 humanoid robots span industries worldwide – from retail assistants and warehouse workers to research prototypes and disaster responders. Leading examples include Tesla’s Optimus, Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, SoftBank’s Pepper, Hanson Robotics’ Sophia, Agility Robotics’ Digit, Unitree’s H1, UBTech’s Walker S2, IIT’s iRonCub3, NASA’s Valkyrie, and Engineered Arts’ Ameca reuters.com, opentalk.iit.it.
- Commercial & Service: SoftBank’s Pepper (Japan/France) remains a top social robot, designed to engage customers in retail, hospitality and education. Over 17,000 Pepper units (with 20 DOF and multiple sensors) have been deployed worldwide to greet visitors, answer questions and gather data aldebaran.com. Tesla’s Optimus (USA) promises a mass-produced general-purpose humanoid for factories and homes, powered by Tesla’s AI (Full Self-Driving) stack; Musk touts Optimus could perform “many daily tasks” and eventually cost as little as $20–30K reuters.com.
- Industrial Automation: Agility Robotics’ Digit (USA) is the first humanoid working in real warehouses. Digit can pick up boxes and dispatch mobile robots (AMRs) to carry items, leveraging AI navigation and dexterous hands agilityrobotics.com. China’s UBTech has introduced Walker S2, an industrial humanoid that autonomously swaps its own batteries in ~3 minutes for 24/7 operation cnevpost.com; it’s already being tested on NIO and BYD assembly lines. Unitree Robotics (China) unveiled the H1, a full-size humanoid (1.8m tall) that can run at ~3.3 m/s and perceive the environment via 3D LiDAR unitree.com. Japan’s AIST developed HRP-5P, a 182 cm, 37-DOF robot that can autonomously install heavy drywall panels (11–13 kg) on construction sites phys.org.
- Entertainment & Companion: In social and entertainment settings, Hanson Robotics’ Sophia (Hong Kong) remains iconic. Sophia combines cameras and neural-net AI to recognize faces, emotions and gestures, and has even been granted “robot citizenship” (Saudi Arabia) and used as a UN innovation ambassador hansonrobotics.com. UK’s Engineered Arts created Ameca, touted as “the world’s most advanced human-shaped robot” – a modular, cloud-connected platform with fluid facial expressions and lifelike gestures for demo and AI research engineeredarts.com. Both Sophia and Ameca exemplify humanoids designed to engage people with natural conversation and expression. (For comparison, earlier educational humanoids like SoftBank’s NAO are still used in labs but less prominent today.)
- Research Prototypes: Cutting-edge prototypes are pushing new frontiers. Italy’s IIT built iRonCub3 (based on the iCub robot) – the first jet-powered flying humanoid. iRonCub3 lifted itself ~50 cm using four jet thrusters, combining complex aerodynamics and AI-based control to hover stably opentalk.iit.it. NASA’s Valkyrie (R5) (USA) was designed for disaster and space environments: a 1.88m, fully-electric humanoid with advanced sensors and actuators, capable of operating in degraded or hazardous conditions nasa.gov. (Both trace their heritage to the DARPA Robotics Challenge effort.)
- Expert Insights: Robotics experts note both progress and challenges. IEEE Spectrum reported that while Tesla impressively built an Optimus prototype quickly, the robot’s on-stage performance was “less impressive than Honda’s ASIMO from 20 years ago” spectrum.ieee.org. Boston Dynamics’ Atlas team emphasizes that activities like parkour test critical skills: “Parkour is a useful organizing activity…how do we connect perception to action…adjusting footsteps and applying corrective forces to maintain balance,” says Atlas lead Scott Kuindersma reuters.com. These remarks highlight that core issues – dynamic balance, manipulation and autonomy – remain challenging even as hardware and AI improve.
Commercial Service Robots
- SoftBank Pepper (SoftBank Robotics, Japan/France): A 1.2 m humanoid built for human interaction and customer service. Pepper recognizes faces and emotions and converses in multiple languages, using 2D/3D cameras, microphones, touch sensors and a tablet interface aldebaran.com. It is widely used in retail stores, hotels and healthcare; for example, Pepper greets customers, answers product questions and provides information, freeing staff for other tasks. Over 17,000 units have been deployed globally aldebaran.com. Pepper has 20 degrees of freedom (for arms, head, torso) and uses embedded AI modules for speech and emotion recognition. (A spokesperson says Pepper “brings the digital and physical together,” delivering personalized recommendations in person us.softbankrobotics.com, aldebaran.com.)
- Tesla Optimus (Tesla, USA): A general-purpose humanoid under development. Optimus (5′8″, ~57 kg) is intended for factory labor and home assistance. It uses Tesla’s neural-network stack (from self-driving cars) and onboard cameras for vision. Early prototypes (Gen2/Gen3) demonstrated bipedal walking and basic object manipulation standardbots.com, reuters.com. Elon Musk claims Optimus will eventually handle “boring, repetitive, or dangerous tasks,” with a target price <$30K reuters.com, standardbots.com. Experts caution that current demos rely on trajectory-control (not full autonomy) and that the robot’s performance still trails classical humanoids in agility spectrum.ieee.org, standardbots.com. Tesla aims to mass-produce Optimus using automotive supply chains, potentially making it the first widely available humanoid for general use.
Research Prototypes
- Boston Dynamics Atlas (USA): A 1.5 m research humanoid known for agility and mobility. Atlas can run, jump, climb uneven terrain and even do backflips reuters.com. It weighs ~86 kg and uses electric motors and hydraulic actuators, with onboard sensors for 3D perception. Atlas’s advanced control software plans whole-body movements for balance and agility bostondynamics.com. The Atlas team uses “parkour” routines to push the robot’s limits: in demos the robot leaps over obstacles, flips and recovers from falls reuters.com. As Scott Kuindersma of Boston Dynamics explains, these exercises test perception-to-action: the robot must continuously adjust foot placement and apply forces to stay upright reuters.com. Atlas remains a research platform (not sold commercially) but informs future rescue and logistics applications by validating cutting-edge AI and actuator designs bostondynamics.com, reuters.com.
- iRonCub3 (IIT, Italy): An experimental humanoid that can fly. Based on the iCub child-sized robot, iRonCub3 is equipped with four jet turbines (two on arms, two on back) allowing it to hover. In June 2025 IIT researchers demonstrated iRonCub3 lifting off ~50 cm while maintaining stability opentalk.iit.it. The system required integrating AI-driven flight control (deep neural nets for aerodynamics) with a titanium skeletal structure and heat-resistant casing to handle exhaust at 700°C opentalk.iit.it. As lead researcher Daniele Pucci notes, this project is “radically different from traditional humanoid robotics,” because thermodynamics and rapid aerodynamics become critical in a flying humanoid opentalk.iit.it. iRonCub3 highlights the boundary of multi-modal robots – capable of both walking and flying in unstructured environments.
- NASA Valkyrie R5 (USA): A space-/rescue-focused humanoid developed by NASA. Valkyrie (1.88 m tall) was originally built for the DARPA Robotics Challenge. It has 44 degrees of freedom and is “robust, rugged, entirely electric” nasa.gov. Valkyrie carries a Carnegie Robotics MultiSense SL sensor head and multiple cameras (“hazard cameras”) for 360° perception. It uses series-elastic actuators in arms and legs for compliant motion nasa.gov. Designed to operate in degraded human environments, Valkyrie can use either wall power or a battery (about 1 hour runtime) and is built to survive falls. Although now dated, Valkyrie remains influential: its design informed later robots and it performed automated walking and object manipulation tasks in NASA’s Space Robotics Challenges nasa.gov.
Entertainment and Companion Robots
- Sophia (Hanson Robotics, Hong Kong): A famous humanoid “celebrity” robot with a human-like face. Sophia combines camera vision and neural-net AI to recognize faces, emotions and hand gestures, and to engage in conversation hansonrobotics.com. She uses a blend of symbolic AI and machine learning for dialogue (the team calls this hybrid “SIC” – Sophia Intelligence Collective hansonrobotics.com). Sophia is known for her expressive facial movements and multi-language capability. She has made media appearances worldwide (e.g. The Tonight Show), and in 2017 was granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia – becoming the first robot citizen hansonrobotics.com. Technically, Sophia runs on a backend of CPUs (e.g. Intel NUCs) and uses a proprietary “Hanson AI” framework combining chatbots and neural nets. Hanson Robotics markets her as a research platform for human-robot interaction and AI demonstration, rather than a product for mass deployment hansonrobotics.com.
- Ameca (Engineered Arts, UK): A next-generation humanoid with strikingly life-like face and motions. Ameca is 1.8 m tall and features high-torque motors for smooth facial expressions and gestures. It’s built on Engineered Arts’ “Mesmer” mech-mimetic technology, allowing rapid, human-like arm and head movement. Ameca runs a cloud-connected robot OS (Tritium) so that AI algorithms (even large models) can drive its behavior remotely. The company calls Ameca “the world’s most advanced human-shaped robot,” intended as a platform for AI development and entertainment engineeredarts.com. In demonstrations, Ameca can hold eye contact, smile, and move in a natural way; its modular design allows parts (like the head or arms) to be reused. As Engineered Arts explains, Ameca’s purpose is to “wow” audiences and serve as an “avatar” for emerging AI, rather than to perform physical labor engineeredarts.com.
- (Bonus) NAO (SoftBank/Aldebaran, France): A 58 cm educational humanoid (2008) that has influenced many today. NAO has 25 DOF, cameras and microphones, and is programmed in schools and labs worldwide. Though not a current “major” robot, NAO’s design (and its sibling Pepper) established early social-robot standards. Researchers and students still use NAO for experiments in balance, speech and human interaction. (In companion robotics, other examples include Blue Frog’s Buddy and China’s Kaspar, but Sophia and Ameca are the trendsetters today.)
Industrial Humanoids
- Agility Robotics Digit (Agility, USA): A bipedal warehouse robot for material handling. Digit stands ~1.6 m tall, with 3D LiDAR and stereo cameras for navigation. It excels at picking and placing boxes and totes: Digit can navigate cluttered aisles and use its two arms (5 DOF each) and simple hands to grasp objects. Agility’s 2025 announcements highlight that Digit’s next version has a 4‑hour battery and improved safety features (e.g. Category-1 e-stop) for factory use agilityrobotics.com. Unlike fixed robots, Digit can integrate with other automation: its Arc cloud platform can dispatch AMRs to carry packages that Digit can’t take itself agilityrobotics.com. Agility notes Digit is currently “the first and only commercially-deployed humanoid” in warehouses, working alongside human workers to automate lifting tasks agilityrobotics.com.
- UBTech Walker S2 (UBTech, China): A 1.75 m general-purpose humanoid aimed at manufacturing. Walker S2 made headlines for its self-charging capability: it can autonomously swap out its own battery packs in ~3 minutes, enabling continuous 24/7 operation cnevpost.com. It has 34 actuated joints and 360° vision, and UBTech has demonstrated it performing factory tasks. China’s electric automaker NIO and BYD have already tested Walker robots on their assembly lines cnevpost.com. Walker S2’s dual-battery system can switch to a spare battery if one fails, and it decides when to swap or charge based on task priority cnevpost.com. UBTech, the first listed humanoid-maker in Hong Kong, positions Walker as an “intelligent robot” for logistics and production. (An earlier Walker S was shown at a NIO plant in early 2024.)
- Unitree H1 (Unitree Robotics, China): A heavy-duty humanoid unveiled in 2023 as China’s first full-size running robot. H1 is about 1.8 m tall and 47 kg, powered by Unitree’s M107 joint motors. It can walk and run at ~3.3 m/s unitree.com, and carries 3D LiDAR and stereo cameras for situational awareness. Unitree emphasizes H1’s high-torque joints (peak ~360 N·m) and advanced balance control. The H1-2 variant adds a chest LiDAR and greater payload arms. Unitree describes H1 as a “universal humanoid robot” intended to work in factories or smart facilities unitree.com. It exemplifies China’s push to develop domestically-produced humanoids for industrial use.
- AIST HRP-5P (Japan): A 1.82 m construction robot prototype by AIST. HRP-5P has 37 DOF and was explicitly built to handle heavy labor at construction sites phys.org. For example, it autonomously installed 11–13 kg gypsum boards as a test. It combines environmental sensing and full-body motion planning to adapt to unstructured work sites phys.org. HRP-5P’s strength is in raw power and robustness: it used to carry large drywall panels and plywood (up to 13 kg) without dropping them phys.org. AIST promotes HRP-5P as a development platform – a bridge toward practical humanoids that can relieve humans of dangerous or strenuous jobs (like aircraft or ship assembly) without modifying the work environment phys.org.
Military and Rescue Applications
- Boston Dynamics Atlas (Boston Dynamics, USA): Initially funded by DARPA, Atlas now serves as a high-end research platform for search-and-rescue and military tech. Its agility (running, jumping, walking in snow) comes from custom hydraulics and sophisticated control software. Atlas’s recent demos (2020–2022) include parkour-like obstacle courses: a Reuters video shows Atlas leaping on boxes, doing backflips and recovering from falls reuters.com. The Atlas team leader notes that these “parkour” tasks expose key challenges (balancing perception, long-term goals, and dynamic foot placement) reuters.com. Although Atlas isn’t a fielded product, each capability (e.g. dynamic balancing, whole-body planning) advances the state of military/rescue robotics. Atlas exemplifies how modern humanoids could navigate collapsed buildings or rough terrain where wheeled robots fail.
- NASA Valkyrie R5 (NASA/JAXA, USA): As noted above, Valkyrie was built for disaster response and space colonization. After the DARPA challenge, NASA adapted Valkyrie for its space robotics programs. It has been used to test autonomous teleoperation (e.g. performing simulated repairs) under Martian conditions. Its emphasis on robustness and redundancy reflects military/rescue needs. (For example, Valkyrie’s 3-fingered hands, 3-DOF neck and multiple cameras enable teleoperation to handle valves and debris.) NASA describes Valkyrie as “designed to operate in degraded or damaged human-engineered environments,” exactly the scenario of a disaster zone nasa.gov. While Valkyrie is no longer in active service, its development spurred military interest in humanoids, and many of its technologies (sensors, actuators, control algorithms) carry over to newer rescue robots.
- Other DARPA/DARPA-inspired Robots: The 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge drove innovation in this field. Besides Atlas and Valkyrie, other teams built notable humanoids: KAIST’s Hubo (Korea) demonstrated walking and manipulation, and IHMC’s Hybrid Humanoid (USA) won the finals. These legacy systems aren’t commercialized today, but their legacies remain. For instance, Boston Dynamics’ newer robots (Spot, Stretch) borrow from Atlas’s balance tech. Similarly, Toyota’s T-HR3 (telepresence humanoid) and Honda’s E2-DR were military/space concepts. In sum, the military/rescue sector continues to push humanoids to be more autonomous and resilient, with current research focusing on real-time adaptation and AI planning in unpredictable environments nasa.gov, reuters.com.
Sources: Authoritative and media sources on robotics news, company releases and research reports have been used. For example, Reuters and official company blogs provide data on Tesla Optimus reuters.com, Agility’s Digit agilityrobotics.com, UBTech’s Walker S2 cnevpost.com, and others. Technical details come from manufacturer/specification pages and research reports aldebaran.com, opentalk.iit.it, nasa.gov. Expert commentary is drawn from IEEE Spectrum and other outlets discussing these robots spectrum.ieee.org, reuters.com. These references ensure accurate coverage of each robot’s origin, capabilities and technologies.
