Till now, just about all humanoid robots have include an eye-watering price ticket. Rotaku, a startup from the San Francisco Bay Space, thinks that is a solvable engineering downside and made its first transfer to vary that.
The corporate simply emerged from stealth with Domo, a humanoid robotic beginning at US$2,999. “Our aim is to make humanoid {hardware} extra accessible to builders, educators, researchers, and smaller robotics groups,” founder Takuzen Lu (also referred to as Zhuoran Lu) advised me through e mail.
Lu studied laptop science on the College of Wisconsin–Madison and spent years dwelling in Japan. This expertise, he says, “formed my curiosity in how know-how can mix engineering, artwork, and on a regular basis life.” His group spans mechanical and industrial design, electrical engineering, embedded methods, movement management, and AI algorithm growth.
We’re a humanoid robotics startup from the Valley.
For the previous yr, we’ve been quietly constructing humanoid robots.
Right now, we wish to share one thing particular with the world:
Domo — a $2,999 humanoid robotic constructed for builders, creators, researchers, and anybody able to construct… pic.twitter.com/rY1gqGes9j— Takuzen (@Takuzennn) May 11, 2026
Domo’s central concept is whole-body coverage studying – an AI coaching approach that lets the robotic study advanced duties by demonstration or reinforcement, moderately than being explicitly coded for each. You don’t must know programming; simply present Domo the best way to decide up an object, navigate a room, or deal with a software, and it learns to repeat it.
The robotic runs totally cable-free, with all electronics, battery, sensors, and computing packed into an aluminum chassis. Builders join through Wi-Fi, deploy AI fashions immediately on the robotic, and entry the system by SSH (an ordinary protocol for safe distant management over a community). The battery lasts as much as two hours of steady use and recharges in half-hour, with hot-swappable packs so work does not must cease for lengthy.
The platform additionally contains VR-based teleoperation for two-arm movement seize, information assortment pipelines for coaching, gesture recognition for intuitive instructions, and a voice assistant powered by a big language mannequin for pure interplay. “Testing has been ongoing all through Domo’s growth, together with inside engineering assessments for movement management, {hardware} reliability, system integration, and consumer interplay,” Lu famous.
Rotaku
Domo ships in two variations. The entry-level Domo Developer, at $2,999, stands 90 cm (35 in) tall, weighs 20 kg (44 lb), gives 23 levels of freedom, and delivers 70 Nm (51.6 lb.ft) of motor torque – constructed for speedy experimentation and customized conduct analysis. The Domo Plus Developer, at $9,899, steps as much as 130 cm (51 in), 35 kg (77 lb), 25 levels of freedom, and 110 Nm (81 lb.ft) of torque, aimed toward labs and established analysis groups that want extra energy for dynamic motion.
For context, Unitree’s R1 robots run between $4,900 and $5,900 relying on model, and its G1 begins at $13,500. Cheaper platforms like Reachy Mini exist, however they’re desktop-scale gadgets – nowhere close to Domo’s claimed full-body motion and AI coaching capabilities.
Rotaku
Domo is designed in California and manufactured by a global provide chain. “Key mechanical parts, digital elements, and meeting companions are chosen primarily based on value, high quality, and manufacturing functionality,” Lu defined. Rotaku has secured early-stage backing and is making ready its subsequent financing spherical, although it is not disclosing the fund identify or seed quantity at the moment.
Reservations for the devbot are open now, with the primary manufacturing batches already being ready for early prospects – although the corporate nonetheless has a lot to show. Robotics startups have a well-documented behavior of nailing the demo and stumbling on the manufacturing facility door. “We’re talking with builders and companions to higher perceive their wants and put together for the following stage of rollout,” Lu mentioned.
Supply: Rotaku
