University of Texas at Austin and Meka Robotics · research humanoid
Dreamer
A compliant humanoid torso on an omnidirectional wheeled base, with a deliberately cartoonish head and fast-moving eyes, built to work closely and safely with people.
- Price
- —Not published
- Height
- —Not published
- Weight
- —Not published
- Payload
- —Not published
- Speed
- —Not published
- Battery
- —Not published
Not sure this is the one? Find the best robot for your job Starts with: greet and guide customers. Five more quick questions.
Why it matters
A retired humanoid from University of Texas at Austin and Meka Robotics.
Real-world use
No customers or deployments reported yet.
Timeline
- First shown
- 2012
- Released
- Not yet
Maker
University of Texas at Austin and Meka RoboticsUniversity lab · founded 1883 · Austin, United Statespublic university (UT Austin research spending $1.06 billion in fiscal 2023)
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
- 2 news stories 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
- Wheeled base
- Actuators & motors
- Series elastic actuators in the 7-DoF arms (the lab lists Apptronik P170 SEAs); brushless DC motors in the 3-DoF torque-controlled torso, head and base. Rides on Trikey, a compliant holonomic base with torque sensing on every wheel.
- Hands
- 5-DoF compliant, tendon-driven hands with force sensors in the fingers.
- Sensors & vision
- Stereo cameras in 3-DoF eyes capable of fast saccades; joint position and torque sensors; force sensors in the wrists and fingers; IMU.
- Compute
- Intel Core i5 computer; EtherCAT real-time bus.
- Battery & power
- Lead-acid batteries; 15 to 45 minutes of operation; untethered base.
- AI & software
- Ubuntu Linux with RTAI; Whole-Body Control Framework v1.1 (later the lab's ControlIt! whole-body controller); Meka M3 server for communications; skills written as YAML directives.
- Other details
- Meka-UT Austin head with a 4-DoF neck and expressive ears that rotate, flex and change colour (pink, blue, white, green).
From the maker
Dreamer is the only humanoid from University of Texas at Austin and Meka Robotics in the atlas.
Watch Dreamer
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
- Sold or delivered
- not sold
- Where it is sold or used
- Human Centered Robotics Lab, UT Austin, with hardware from Meka Robotics (San Francisco)
News
The latest 2, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.
- Dreamer's co-builder Meka bought by Google
IEEE Spectrum named Dreamer as one of Meka's best-known robots when Google acquired the company.
IEEE Spectrum - Meka and UT Austin start a second robot, HUME
After their first collaboration, the partners announced a compliant biped for fast rough-terrain locomotion.
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 | DreamerUniversity of Texas at Austin and Meka Robotics | No public photo yetWe only show photos we're allowed to useFLASHWroclaw University of Technology (Jan Kedzierski)Same job: social · Both on wheels · Both past robots |  REEMPAL RoboticsSame job: social · Both on wheels · Both past robots |  PepperSoftBank Mobile and Aldebaran RoboticsSame job: social · Both on wheels · Both past robots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First shown | 2012 | 2012 | 2010 | 2014-06-05 |
| Status | Retired | Discontinued | Discontinued | Discontinued |
| Height | — | — | 170 cm | 121 cm |
| Weight | — | — | 90 kg | 28 kg |
| Joints | — | — | 22 | 20 |
| Speed | — | — | 4 km/h | 3 km/h |
| Payload | — | — | 30 kg | — |
| Battery | — | — | 8 h | 12 h |
| Price | — | — | — | $1,930 |
Sources
Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.
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