Asimov Is An Open Source Humanoid Robot For The Rest Of Us
Skip to content # Asimov Is An Open Source Humanoid Robot For The Rest Of Us 4 Comments by: Tyler August May 16, 2026 Given that some of the more famous demos were by Honda and Tesla, you might be forgiven for thinking you need pockets as deep as a car comp...
Key takeaways
- In 2026 the humanoid‑robot sector is moving from laboratory prototypes to large‑scale commercial deployment across industry, consumer markets and research.
- China is accelerating the rollout of humanoid robots as part of its 2026 “future industries” blueprint, with more than 140 domestic manufacturers and over 330 models already released; the government has also established robot‑learning centers such as the Beijing‑based Humanoid Robot Data Training Center to teach robots workplace tasks.
- Shanghai‑based Agibot now commands an estimated 39 % of the global market, has shipped over 10,000 units this year and offers robots‑as‑a‑service in 17 countries, signalling a shift from pure technology exploration to early‑stage deployment in manufacturing, logistics, security and education.
- In Europe, the startup Humanoid has signed a phased partnership with Schaeffler (and Bosch) to integrate its HMND platform into live production lines in Germany, with the first systems slated for operation by the end of 2026 and a seven‑digit supply of joint actuators secured through 2031.
- Boston Dynamics demonstrated a fully electric Atlas that can pick up and place heavy objects such as washing machines, emphasizing advances in whole‑body control and rapid sim‑to‑real training aimed at reducing behavior‑development cycles to a day.
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Asimov Is An Open Source Humanoid Robot For The Rest Of Us
4 Comments
by: Tyler August
May 16, 2026
Given that some of the more famous demos were by Honda and Tesla, you might be forgiven for thinking you need pockets as deep as a car company to get into humanoid robotics — and maybe that was true once, but now Asimov v1 is here. It doesn’t have a positronic brain, and you’ll have to code in the Three Laws for yourself, but at least you have the freedom to, because Asimov is open source. No word on if this robot can write a symphony — though we’ve seen software that can — and its 5 kg personal best for squats and 18 kg single-arm lat raises aren’t going to impress the bros at the gym. But hey, at least now you have someone to shake your chair for sim gaming. If you’re wondering what the deal with these androids is, well, so were we.
4 thoughts on “Asimov Is An Open Source Humanoid Robot For The Rest Of Us”
- Just what we need. A bunch of easy to hack foreign robots that are humanoid shaped and left powered on all day waiting for there owners instruction.
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Reply 2. $15K BOM is more than buy it now free shipping ready to use Unitree G1
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- These guys for 13k a pop?
Report comment;) It’s not exactly cheap: the kit version comes with a target price of $15,000 USD, but they do provide the Bill of Materials on the GitHub repository so you can try and hunt down some deals. Still, compared to the millions poured into these sorts of robots in the early days, we have to consider it accessible. With 25 total degrees of freedom, you’ll have to source a lot of actuators, but at least the onboard compute will be easy to get. Rather than begging CERN for spare positrons, you’ only need a Raspberry 5 and a Radaxa CM5.
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