RoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory), UCLA · research humanoid
CHARLI
A very light (12 kg) full-height humanoid that walked, kicked a ball and corrected its posture when pushed. RoMeLa was then at Virginia Tech and later moved to UCLA.
- Price
- —Not published
- Height
- 141 cmTaller than 31%
- Weight
- 12.1 kgHeavier than 4%
- Payload
- —Not published
- Speed
- 1.4 km/hFaster than 10%
- Battery
- —Not published
Not sure this is the one? Find the best robot for your job Starts with: research and teaching. Five more quick questions.
Why it matters
A retired humanoid from RoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory).
Real-world use
Competed at RoboCup 2011.
Timeline
- First shown
- 2011
- Released
- Not yet
Maker
RoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory), UCLAUniversity lab · Los Angeles, California, USAOffice of Naval Research grant and crowdfunding (over 320 donors, about USD 500,000) for ARTEMIS
How it stacks up
Against other humanoids that publish the figure. Pick a measure.
CHARLI is taller than 31% of the 305 other humanoids that publish a height. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
CHARLI is heavier than 4% of the 277 other humanoids that publish a weight. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
CHARLI is faster than 10% of the 122 other humanoids that publish a speed. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
CHARLI has more joints than 30% of the 236 other humanoids that publish a joints. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
Not published by the maker: payload, battery, price.
Public attention
A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current humanoids.
- No Wikipedia article of its own yet
- 1 news story from reputable press listed on this page
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 · 25 joints
- Actuators & motors
- 32 DC motors.
- Hands
- 1 DoF per hand.
- Sensors & vision
- Camera, three-axis rate gyro, three-axis accelerometer, two microphones, joint encoders.
- Compute
- Single-board computer with 1.6 GHz Intel Atom.
- Battery & power
- 14.8 V Li-Po for motors and 11.1 V Li-Po for computing; about 30 minutes.
- Materials & build
- Aluminium alloy, titanium, carbon-fibre composites and plastics; 141 cm, 12.1 kg.
- AI & software
- Ubuntu Linux with custom C++ control (a LabVIEW version also exists).
- Other details
- 25 DoF.
Named suppliers:Intel
Lineage
Every RoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory) humanoid in order.
Watch CHARLI
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 prototype
- Sold or delivered
- never sold
- Where it is sold or used
- United States
News
The latest 1, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.
- Virginia Tech's RoMeLa Rocks RoboCup 2011
RoMeLa's CHARLI-2 won the Louis Vuitton Humanoid Cup for Best Humanoid at RoboCup 2011, bringing the cup to the United States for the first time.
IEEE Spectrum
Side by side with its peers
Picked by the same rules for every humanoid: another maker’s robot that moves the same way, is at the same stage and does at least one of the same main jobs, first shown within two years. Closer size and price rank higher. How we choose
| Measure | CHARLIRoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory) |  Surena IIUniversity of Tehran, Center for Advanced VehiclesSame job: research · Both walk · Both past robots · Similar size |  HUBO 2 (KHR-4)KAIST Hubo Lab (Jun-Ho Oh)Same job: research · Both walk · Both past robots · Similar size |  Toyota Partner Robot (running humanoid)Toyota Motor CorporationSame job: research · Both walk · Both past robots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First shown | 2011 | 2010-07-03 | 2008 | 2009-07 |
| Status | Retired | Retired | Discontinued | Retired |
| Height | 141 cm | 145 cm | 125 cm | — |
| Weight | 12.1 kg | 45 kg | 45 kg | — |
| Joints | 25 | 22 | 41 | — |
| Speed | 1.4 km/h | 0.1 km/h | 3.6 km/h | 7 km/h |
| Payload | — | — | — | — |
| Battery | — | — | 2 h | — |
| Price | — | — | $400,000 | — |
Sources
Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.
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