ROBOTIS OP3
ROBOTIS OP3 is the third generation of the open platform humanoid line that started with DARwIn-OP. It is a 51 cm, 3.5 kg kid size research robot with 20 degrees of freedom, an Intel NUC and a ROS based open source software stack. It is used in RoboCup and in teaching labs worldwide.
We have not sat down with this one. The score below is computed from the data we hold, and the facts on this page are sourced. Treat the score as a starting point, not a recommendation.
How the score is built
Capability is what the machine physically does. Value compares it with others at a similar price, not with the whole market. Buyability asks whether you can really order one. Ecosystem is the software and community around it. Proof is what it has done in the field, which is where most humanoids score badly and should.
What people buy instead.
- Status
- Commercial
- Category
- research
- First revealed
- 2017
- Form
- bipedal
- Height
- 51 cm
- Weight
- 3.5 kg
- Payload
- n/a
- Degrees of freedom
- 20
- Battery
- n/a
- Runtime
- n/a
- Walking speed
- n/a
- Actuation
- electric, Dynamixel XM430 servos
- Units deployed (est.)
- not disclosed
- Teleoperation
- no
Where it stands
Sold by Robotis to universities and RoboCup teams; the OP2 (2014) sits between DARwIn-OP and OP3.
What stands out
- Open source ROS framework
- Kid size RoboCup platform
- Successor to DARwIn-OP and OP2
Autonomy, observed
Autonomous soccer in the RoboCup Humanoid League kid size class
Hands, sensors, brain
- Hands: none
- Sensors: camera, IMU, joint encoders
- Compute: Intel NUC
- AI stack: ROS based open source framework
Price and volume
list price in the low five figures in dollars; check the Robotis store
Open source
Software and hardware documentation open
Index position
In the Humanoid Index, which ranks on shipped reality rather than value for money, ROBOTIS OP3 sits at #6 of 107 with 56 points: deployment 14/50, autonomy 28/30, availability 14/20. See that method.
Figure AI: what $39 billion has shown so far
Four rounds, $1,754,000,000 raised, one named customer, no price and no unit count. The record on the most valuable humanoid company, generation by generation.
How a humanoid robot works: actuators, compute, sensors and the model
Of 182 humanoids on record, 178 say what moves the joints and 43 say what computer is inside. The further a layer sits from the metal, the less the maker tells you about it.
Humanoid races, games and fights: what the competitions proved
Our record holds 11 competition events from 1997 to 2025 and 17 machines tied to them. Six can be ordered, three at a public price, and 13 of the 17 carry a teleoperation flag of yes or partial.
Open-source humanoids: what you can actually build
24 of the 182 humanoids on record call themselves open source. 15 publish hardware files and software, 3 name a licence, 12 can be ordered, and none of the four on preorder has any autonomy evidence yet.
Startups, automakers, universities: who builds humanoids
108 makers, nine kinds. Startups hold 37 of the 44 humanoids you can order. Automakers, universities, big tech, conglomerates and NASA hold 45 robots between them and sell none of them.
Humanoid robot stocks: which of the 108 makers are actually listed
Twenty of the 108 makers in our record have a ticker. Four of them will sell you a humanoid. The rest build cars, chips, servers and washing machines, and the pure plays are all private.
Other robots by Robotis.
DARwIn-OP
DARwIn-OP (Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence, Open Platform) is a 45 cm open hardware and open software humanoid developed by Virginia Tech's RoMeLa lab with Purdue, Penn and Robotis under a US National Science Foundation grant. Released in late 2010, it became the standard kid size platform in RoboCup and in university teaching. Robotis productised it and followed with OP2 and OP3.
ROBOTIS MINI
ROBOTIS MINI is a 27 cm desktop humanoid built on DYNAMIXEL servos, controlled with block coding or Python. A safe, durable first robot for schools, and the smallest member of the family that runs up to the full-size OP3.
THORMANG3
THORMANG3 is a modular full size humanoid built by Robotis from its Dynamixel Pro actuators and released in 2015 for research teams, including at the DARPA Robotics Challenge finals. It runs an open source ROS framework and was sold to universities worldwide. It represents the DRC era of modular research humanoids.
Sources
- 01ROBOTIS OP3 IntroductionRobotis
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