KOBIAN

A whole-body robot that expresses happiness, sadness, surprise and other emotions through facial expressions and posture.

Price: —Not published
Height: —Not published
Weight: —Not published
Payload: —Not published
Speed: —Not published
Battery: —Not published

Simulate in your job Compare with Mex-One (Mexone)

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 walking humanoid built to show emotions with both its face and its whole body.

Real-world use

No customers or deployments reported yet.

Timeline

First shown: 2009
Released: Not yet

Waseda University

Maker

Waseda University / JST Moonshot programUniversity lab · founded 1882 · Tokyo, Japan

Government research funding through the JST Moonshot programme (amount not stated).

What it has been shown doing

We checked public videos and press for KOBIAN and found no clear demo of the skills we track yet.

Public attention

How much public attention KOBIAN gets, from open data.

133 views of its Wikipedia article in the last 90 days (Kobian)
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
Actuators & motors: Brushed DC servomotors.
Hands: 4 DoF per hand with force sensors.
Sensors & vision: Two cameras, microphone, IMU, six-axis force-torque sensors in feet and forearms.
Battery & power: Lithium-ion for about 20 minutes, or a 48 V external supply.
Materials & build: Mainly aluminium; 140 cm, 62 kg.
AI & software: QNX real-time OS with custom control and emotional-expression software.
Other details: 65 DoF in total, 24 of them in the head for facial expressions.

Named suppliers:QNX

Lineage

Every Waseda University humanoid in order.

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: Japan

News

The latest 1, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.

2009
Emotional humanoid KOBIAN
Waseda lists KOBIAN as a 2009 robot that shows emotions with face and body.
Waseda University

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

Full comparison

Measure	KOBIANWaseda University	No public photo yetWe only show photos we're allowed to useMex-One (Mexone)Cinvestav Guadalajara (Eduardo Bayro-Corrochano's team)Same job: social · Both walk · Both research platforms	No public photo yetWe only show photos we're allowed to useKIBOKorea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)Same job: social · Both walk · Both research platforms
First shown	2009	2011-07	2011
Status	Research	Research	Research
Height	—	105 cm	—
Weight	—	15 kg	—
Joints	—	—	—
Speed	—	—	—
Payload	—	—	—
Battery	—	—	—
Price	—	—	—

Sources

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

Waseda University The Robots of Waseda: A 50-Year Journey in Humanoid Innovation Logo: Waseda University, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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