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.
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. It is not on sale, so there is nothing to recommend.
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
- Discontinued
- Category
- research
- First revealed
- 2015
- Form
- bipedal
- Height
- 137 cm
- Weight
- 42 kg
- Payload
- n/a
- Degrees of freedom
- 29
- Battery
- n/a
- Runtime
- n/a
- Walking speed
- n/a
- Actuation
- electric, Dynamixel Pro actuators
- Units deployed (est.)
- not disclosed
- Teleoperation
- yes
Where it stands
Full size research humanoid sold to labs in the 2010s; no longer listed as a current Robotis product.
What stands out
- Built from Dynamixel Pro actuators
- Open source ROS framework
- DARPA Robotics Challenge finals platform
Autonomy, observed
Competed in the 2015 DRC Finals with Team ROBOTIS and was used by several university teams
Used with operator interfaces at the DARPA Robotics Challenge
Hands, sensors, brain
- Hands: simple grippers
- Sensors: lidar, cameras, force torque sensors, IMU
- Compute: two Intel NUC computers
- AI stack: ROS based open source framework
Price and volume
sold to research institutions; price not public
Open source
Software and documentation published by Robotis
Milestones.
Robotis THORMANG3 competes at the DRC Finals
Robotis fields THORMANG3, a 137 cm modular humanoid built from Dynamixel Pro actuators, for Team ROBOTIS and as the base of other DRC teams. The platform is later sold to research labs.
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.
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.
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.
Sources
- 01THORMANG3 IntroductionRobotis
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