China revealed a compact 4-ft robot with
a split AI brain or dual brain
architecture. Vietnam showed two new
different humanoids for homes, security,
factories, [music]
and remote work. And NVIDIA just gave
researchers a full 6-ft robot platform
with over 2,000 teraflops of onboard AI
power. The robot race is heating up
again, so let's talk about it. So, let's
start in Shanghai because Jaka Robotics
just unveiled a humanoid called Pi, and
it is a very different kind of robot
from the massive human-sized machines we
usually see in this space. Jaka Pi
stands 4-ft tall or 1.22 m and weighs
around 92 lb or 42 [music] kg. Its full
dimensions are around 4-ft by 16.5 in by
8.7 in or 1,220 [music]
mm by 420 mm by 220 mm. So, this is a
compact humanoid built for research,
development, and real-world testing. The
company says Pi is designed as a
versatile platform for embodied
intelligence, motion control, AI-powered
interaction, and human-robot
collaboration. What makes Pi [music]
interesting is the way Jaka is trying to
combine the brain side and the body side
of robotics. The robot has 27 degrees of
freedom, and it uses newly developed
integrated joint modules that are 15 to
27% smaller than Jaka's previous
generations. That is a big deal for a
compact humanoid [music]
because smaller joints help the whole
body become lighter, cleaner, and easier
to move. The knee joints can deliver up
to 88.5 lb ft of torque
>> [music]
>> or 120 Nm, giving the robot enough
strength for stable walking and
controlled locomotion. Each arm can
carry up to 6.5 lb or 3 kg, so Pi can
handle objects, test manipulation tasks,
and work through research scenarios
where the robot needs to interact with
the physical world instead of just
walking around as a demo. Then there is
the fusion brain architecture. Jaka
built the core system on Intel's
heterogeneous computing platform, and
the idea is to separate high-level
intelligence from low-level motion
control. The company describes the
higher-level side as the cerebrum. That
part handles AI reasoning, vision
perception, large language models,
application logic, and the general
understanding of what the robot is
supposed to do. The lower-level side
works more like a cerebellum. That part
controls real-time movement through an
EtherCAT-based [music]
control network with millisecond-level
latency. That separation matters because
humanoids need two very different types
of intelligence [music] at the same
time. The robot has to understand spoken
instructions, recognize the environment,
decide on an action plan, and then move
its body with stable timing and
coordination. [music]
Jaka is trying to give Pi the ability to
hear a request, understand what is
happening around it, plan a physical
response, and execute that response
through deterministic control systems
that stay reliable at the movement
level. This also shows how Jaka is
expanding beyond its original identity.
The company was founded in Shanghai in
2015 and became known for collaborative
robots, or cobots, used in industrial
automation. Its Zoo series includes
models like the Zoo 3, Zoo 5, Zoo 7, Zoo
12, Zoo 18, Zoo 20, and Zoo 30 for jobs
such as assembly, machine tending,
palletizing, [music]
and packaging. Then it has the Pro
series, including Pro 5, Pro 12, [music]
and Pro 16, built for harsh industrial
environments with IP68-rated protection
against [music] dust, oil, and water.
For jobs that need careful physical
contact, Jaka offers the S series,
including the S5 and S12 with high
accuracy force sensing and advanced
force control. The AL and A series
combine robotic manipulation with
machine vision, which makes deployment
easier in dynamic production
environments. The company also has Mini
Cobot and Mini 2 for education,
research, hospitality, and small-scale
automation, plus Jaka Lens 2D, Jaka Lens
VPS vision systems, six-axis force
sensors, RoboHub control platforms, and
low-code programming tools. So, Pi is
part of a much bigger shift for the
company.
Jaka already introduced K series
humanoid platforms, including K1, K1L,
and K1W. And now Pi brings large
language models, machine vision, force
control, real-time planning, and compact
motion hardware into one new embodied AI
platform. China has already started
putting humanoid robots into postal
logistics,
>> [music]
>> including automated parcel sorting in
Guangzhou, and robots like Pi show how
quickly Chinese robotics companies are
moving from industrial arms into
humanoid systems that can work in more
flexible environments.
Now, the second big development comes
from Vietnam, and this one is
interesting because Vin Big Dynamics has
now officially entered the humanoid
robotics race with Dino, the company's
first humanoid robot. Dino made its
international debut at ICRA 2026 in
Vienna and Computex Taipei 2026.
Vin Big Dynamics describes it as an
intelligent humanoid robot built to
serve as a versatile assistant for
modern living environments.
>> [music]
>> The robot combines advanced AI,
environmental perception, autonomous
navigation, situational awareness,
human-robot interaction, and dexterous
manipulation in a single platform.
>> [music]
>> The company has not released detailed
specifications yet, so we do not have
exact height, [music] weight, or torque
numbers. Still, the target use cases are
already clear.
Dino is being developed [music] for
security and surveillance in urban
areas, campuses, commercial spaces, and
[music] service complexes, while also
being built toward household assistance.
That means Vin Dynamics is aiming at two
very different categories at the same
time, public-facing security and
domestic [music] support. That is a
difficult combination because a security
robot needs awareness, navigation, long
operating stability, and reliable
interaction with people in open
environments. A household assistant
needs safer movement, more precise
object handling, and the ability to deal
with messy, unpredictable everyday
spaces.
Vin Dynamics says Dino uses a flexible
arm architecture and an advanced
manipulation system so it can interact
with objects in dynamic environments and
perform tasks that require careful
handling.
One of the most useful demonstrations
came from Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc,
where Dino was tested as an autonomous
robotic guide. In that pilot deployment,
the robot operated in outdoor [music]
conditions, used multilingual speech,
responded to visitors through natural
language interaction, and relied on
real-time environmental awareness to
answer [music] questions and guide
people. That is a strong test for a
service robot because outdoor spaces are
full of movement, noise, crowds,
lighting changes,
>> [music]
>> and unexpected behavior. According to
Vin Dynamics, the deployment showed that
Dino could keep interacting with people
while functioning in unpredictable
service environments.
That part is important because humanoid
robots can look impressive in a clean
lab, while real service environments
expose weak points in navigation,
[music] speech interaction, perception,
and timing. Alongside Dino, Vin Dynamics
also showed the building blocks behind
its humanoid program. One of them is the
VDM 80 actuator joint, a compact motor
that works like the robot's muscle
system. It weighs less than 2.2 lb or 1
kg, runs on a standard 48-V power
supply, [music] and supports industrial
communication standards like CAN FD,
RS485, and EtherCAT. It can reach speeds
of up to 235 revolutions per minute, and
it is designed for long-term reliability
with an expected operational life of
more than 10,000 hours. The company also
presented a human-like robotic hand with
11 moving joints and six actively
controlled degrees of freedom.
Integrated force sensors help the hand
control grip more accurately, which is
necessary for delicate tasks and
consistent object handling. When this
hand, the actuator platform, and Vin
Dynamics AI training data set are
combined, the company gets the
foundation for future humanoids that can
learn practical skills and operate
safely in real-world settings. Then we
get another Vietnamese humanoid from the
same larger Vin Group ecosystem, and
this one is called VRH3.
It comes from Vin Robotics, a Vin Group
subsidiary, and it was also unveiled at
ICRA 2026 in Vienna and Computex Taipei
2026.
VRH3 is the company's third-generation
humanoid robot, and it is aimed more
directly [music]
at industrial automation, material
handling, operational support, and work
in complex environments.
It has more than 31 actuators for
coordinated whole-body movement, giving
it the ability to perform tasks that
require dexterity, balance, and
precision. The robot runs on two onboard
edge computers, [music] so it can
process sensory and operational data
locally instead of relying only on
remote systems. That is important for
low-latency decision-making and
real-time autonomous control, especially
in industrial settings where delays can
make a robot unsafe or useless.
Vin Robotics says VRH3
can perceive its environment, interact
with people, transport objects, handle
payloads of around 13 to 17 lb or 6 to 8
kg, and perform assembly-related
operations. Its sensing and control
systems are designed to help it move
through dynamic environments while
staying [music] stable during
manipulation tasks. A major detail here
is that Vin Robotics says all key
technologies were developed in-house.
That includes the robot's mechanical
architecture, real-time computing and
communication infrastructure, electrical
and electronic architecture, power
distribution platform, battery
management system, and full-body AI
control framework. This kind of vertical
integration gives the company more
control over how the hardware and
software work together, which can make a
big difference when trying to improve
balance, manipulation, energy use, and
reliability over multiple generations.
At ICRA 2026, Vin Robotics demonstrated
VRH3's teleoperation system using motion
capture technology built directly into a
virtual reality headset. The operator
could control the humanoid's movements
in real time without needing extra
external tracking equipment. That kind
of setup could be useful for remote
industrial operations, hazardous
environments, maintenance work, and any
scenario where a human needs to guide a
robot from a safer distance while still
using natural body movement. So, from
Vietnam alone, we now have Dino from Vin
Dynamics targeting security, service,
guidance, and household roles, and VRH3
from Vin Robotics targeting industrial
tasks, payload handling, assembly
support, and teleoperated work. For a
country building up its global humanoid
presence, that is a surprisingly broad
entry. And then there is Nvidia, which
is approaching humanoid robotics from a
completely different angle. Instead of
launching one robot as a finished
product, Nvidia introduced what it calls
the first open humanoid robot reference
design built on the Isaac GR00T
development platform. The goal is to
give researchers a full hardware and
software foundation for building
humanoid robots instead of forcing every
lab to stitch together hardware,
simulation tools, AI models, sensors,
hands, middleware, and deployment
systems from different vendors. This was
announced at Nvidia GTC Taipei, and the
reference design is built around a
Unitree H2 humanoid robot. The Unitree
H2 is a nearly 6-ft tall human-scale
robot weighing around 150 lb. [music]
The body has 31° of freedom, which gives
it enough movement range for human-like
motion and real-world testing.
Nvidia paired it with dual Sharp Wave
tactile five-finger hands, adding
another 44° of freedom. All together,
the platform reaches 75° of freedom.
That is a huge number because the hands
alone add a major layer of complexity.
Walking is already hard. Full-body
control is already hard. Add tactile
five-finger manipulation, wrist cameras,
[music] and hand-level control, and
suddenly the robot can be used for far
more advanced research than basic
locomotion. The sensing setup includes a
head-mounted stereo camera,
wrist-mounted cameras for manipulation,
and an inertial measurement unit for
motion tracking. The robot can also
support demanding physical [music] work
with arm torque of up to 88.5 lb ft or
120 N m,
leg torque of up to 265.5
lb ft or 360 N m, and payload support of
up to 33 lb or 15 kg.
The onboard AI brain is Nvidia's Jetson
AGX Thor T5000 computing platform. This
system uses a Blackwell-based GPU
capable of delivering 2070 FP4 teraflops
of AI performance. It also includes a
14-core ARM CPU [music] and 128 GB of
unified memory, giving the robot enough
onboard compute for real-time sensor
processing, control, [music]
and AI workloads. The software side is
where NVIDIA's strategy becomes clearer.
The platform is tightly connected to
Isaac [music] GR00T,
which covers the whole robotics workflow
from data collection to simulation,
[music]
training, evaluation, and deployment.
Researchers can use Isaac Teleyop to
capture demonstration data, Isaac Sim
and Isaac Lab for virtual training and
testing, and Isaac ROS middleware to
deploy trained policies onto physical
robots. NVIDIA is also including open
foundation models for humanoid reasoning
and learning, so researchers can build
robots that perform multitask behaviors
[music] and gradually develop more
advanced capabilities.
Labs can adopt the full stack or take
individual components and plug them into
existing workflows.
NVIDIA also says the same development
platform will support the Unitree G1
humanoid, which makes it more accessible
to institutions already using that
popular research platform. Several major
robotics institutions have already
committed to using the reference design,
including
>> [music]
>> AI2, ETH Zurich, the Stanford Robotics
Center,
and the Advanced Robotics and Controls
Laboratory at the University of
California, San Diego.
Steve Cousins, the executive director of
the Stanford Robotics Center, [music]
said robotics moves fastest when
researchers can build on open platforms,
share code, and test ideas on real
machines. The pace is getting serious
now,
>> [music]
>> and the next wave of humanoid robots
will probably come from the companies
that can connect AI reasoning, sensors,
hands, balance, and real-world training
into one stable system. Also, if [music]
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