We’re getting used to fully humanoid robots. Weirdly, a UK company called Humanoid’s first ‘bot, the HMND 01, is not one of those. It’s mostly humanoid, from the waist up, at least. Since the rest of its title is ‘Alpha Wheeled’, the bottom design makes sense. We suppose.
Legs or not, the autonomous droid has already gone to work. Specifically, at a UK-based automotive factory for a company called Martur Fompak. They install car seats, for the most part. The HMND 01 spent some time on the company’s factory floor, where it functioned as a robotic factory worker proof-of-concept.
HMND 01? Where’s CLRKSN 02?
Judging by the video released by Humanoid, it performed well enough. Slower than an actual human would have, but since the wheeled robot doesn’t have to sleep, it’ll outperform us all eventually. The robot’s design is definitely more industrial than most, though we’d expect something with a 300kg weight and four-hour runtime to manage more than fifteen kilograms at a time.
The key thing with the HMND 01’s operations here was autonomy. It accepted orders directly from Martur Fompak’s software and carried out tasks without human intervention. The bot functioned on a live factory floor during the January/February 2026 trial, with most of its tasks involving packing items onto a trolley. It found and delivered those items on its own, however.
The robot’s range of sensors helped. It packs several RGB and depth cameras in its skull. Six-degrees-of-freedom sensors in its arms and AI software (helpfully powered by Nvidia) handled much of the rest. It’s unlikely to turn up in your own workplace soon, unless some enterprising IT fellow opts to approach Humanoid for early access. Presumably, that’s when the price tag will be shared with those who can afford it.
