Humanoid & robot atlas
RoboSimian
Photo: Office of Naval Research from Arlington, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
RetiredSucceeded by EELS (Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor) United StatesSupervised

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory · legged machine

RoboSimian

A four-limbed disaster-response robot that moves slowly over rubble and performs dexterous tasks. JPL lists the project as completed in 2015.

Price
—Not published
Height
120 cmTaller than 50%
Weight
125 kgHeavier than 60%
Payload
—Not published
Speed
0.5 km/hFaster than 11%
Battery
—Not published
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Why it matters

An ape-like, four-limbed robot built for the DARPA Robotics Challenge, using every limb for both walking and manipulation.

Real-world use

Ran the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals course on 5 June 2015.

Timeline

First shown
2013-12
Released
Not yet
DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials (date from general knowledge; JPL page shows the June 2015 Finals)

Maker

NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryGovernment lab · Pasadena, California, USA

NASA; DARPA (RoboSimian)

How it stacks up

Against other legged & novel that publish the figure. Pick a measure.

  1. MantisMicromagic Systems (Matt Denton) · 2013280 cm
  2. HandleBoston Dynamics · 2017200 cm
  3. RoboSimianNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory · 2013120 cm
  4. BionicKangarooFesto (Bionic Learning Network) · 2014100 cm
  5. LAURON VFZI Research Center for Information Technology · 201384 cm
  6. CharlieDFKI Robotics Innovation Center · 201275 cm
  7. DaisyHEBI Robotics · 201750 cm
  8. Guardian SSarcos Robotics (now Palladyne AI) · 201513 cm

RoboSimian is taller than 50% of the 22 other legged & novel that publish a height. Bars show the 7 closest in date.

Height 120 cm 5 cm450 cm #12 of 23 · taller than 50%

Not published by the maker: payload, joints, battery, price.

Public attention

A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current machines.

  • No Wikipedia article of its own yet
  • No recent press stories listed yet

Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-13; same method for every robot. How it is measured

What’s inside

The parts the company has talked about publicly.

Movement
Walks on legs
How it runs
Supervised. Operators gave it high-level commands from a remote station and it carried out the motions, as at the DARPA Robotics Challenge.
Actuators & motors
Four limbs used both for walking and for manipulation (ape-like 'simian' design).
Sensors & vision
Seven sets of stereo cameras and a lidar for 3D mapping.
Other details
About 125 kg, 1.2 m tall, 0.15 m/s. Built for the DARPA Robotics Challenge disaster-response contest; later tested in Death Valley (February 2020) as a Europa-like terrain analogue.

Lineage

Every NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory machine in order.

  1. ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer)ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer)2005Research
  2. Tri-ATHLETE (ATHLETE second generation)Tri-ATHLETE (ATHLETE second generation)2009Research
  3. LEMUR 3 (Freeclimber)LEMUR 3 (Freeclimber)2011Research
  4. RoboSimianRoboSimian2013Retired
  5. EELS (Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor)EELS (Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor)2022Research

Watch RoboSimian

Video: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on YouTube. Plays from youtube-nocookie.com when you press play.

Made, sold and where

Unit counts are usually company figures; analysts often disagree.

Price
Not published
How to get one
No official buying page found
Built
Research robot
Sold or delivered
not sold
Where it is sold or used
NASA JPL, Pasadena, California
Customers and pilots
DARPA Robotics Challenge entry; completed 2015

Sources

Figures come from the maker. Every link below backs something on this page.

NASA JPL RoboSimian www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov RoboSimian: how it is operated

Photos and logos only identify each robot and its maker. Simbeing is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsing any company, and nothing here is advertising. Figures are for statistics only and are not advice of any kind. Terms of use