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How humanoid robots work
A humanoid robot is a body built to work in spaces designed for people: stairs, door handles, kitchen counters. Under the shell it's motors, sensors, a battery and an AI model that turns what it sees into movement. Here's what each part does, what the makers say their robots can do, and which ones you can actually buy.
The short answer
- Motors at every joint. Electric actuators are now standard on the humanoids we cover; Boston Dynamics retired its hydraulic Atlas in 2024.
- Hands are the hard part. Some makers now quote 20-plus degrees of freedom per hand and fingertip touch sensing.
- Batteries last hours, not days. Makers state about 2 to 5 hours of run time.
- The brain is a "vision-language-action" model that takes in camera images and instructions and outputs motor commands.
- For a home, almost nothing is buyable yet. Unitree sells robots aimed at researchers and hobbyists; 1X NEO and Weave Isaac 1 are preorders; Tesla Optimus and Figure 03 aren't for sale.
The body: actuators and joints
An actuator is whatever moves a joint, usually an electric motor with a gearbox. The Modern Robotics textbook describes actuators as delivering the forces or torques that make a robot's links move. Hydraulics were once the way to get strength into a small space; Boston Dynamics retired its famous hydraulic Atlas in April 2024 and replaced it with an all-electric one. 1X takes a different route for NEO, using tendon-driven actuators that it says make movement safer around people.
"Degrees of freedom" (DoF) counts how many independent ways a robot can move. Boston Dynamics gives its production Atlas 56. 1X lists NEO's joints by body part: 22 in each hand, 7 in each arm, 6 in each leg, 3 in the neck and 2 in the spine. More DoF means more possible motion, and more to control and maintain.
Hands and touch
Picking up a glass, a sock or an egg is harder for a robot than walking. Makers are adding joints and touch sensing:
- 1X says each NEO hand has 22 degrees of freedom.
- Tesla's then-Optimus lead said on X in 2024 that the Optimus hand has 22 DoF plus 3 in the wrist and forearm (as reported by InsideHook and Electrek).
- Figure says each Figure 03 fingertip senses forces as small as three grams, and each palm has its own camera.
- Unitree's base G1 has no dexterous hand; one is an option on the more expensive EDU version.
Sensors
Most humanoids see with cameras, often stereo pairs for depth, and some add LiDAR. 1X lists dual stereo fisheye cameras and four microphones on NEO; Unitree lists a depth camera and 3D LiDAR on the G1. For a home robot, this is also the privacy question: a robot that moves room to room carries cameras and microphones with it. See teleoperation for who else might see through them.
Batteries and run time
All figures below are the makers' own and haven't been independently tested.
| Robot | Battery (maker-stated) | Run time (maker-stated) | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1X NEO | 842 Wh | 4 hours | 66 lb |
| Figure 03 | 2.3 kWh; charges wirelessly at 2 kW by stepping onto a stand | 5 hours at peak performance | Not published |
| Unitree G1 | 9,000 mAh, quick-release | About 2 hours | About 35 kg (77 lb) |
| Boston Dynamics Atlas | Swaps its own battery | 4 hours | 90 kg (198 lb) |
From each maker's product or announcement page, read October 12, 2026. Watt-hours (Wh) measure energy and are the fair way to compare batteries; milliamp-hours (mAh) depend on voltage. See the glossary.
The brain: vision-language-action models
The software behind recent humanoids is a type of AI called a vision-language-action (VLA) model. Google DeepMind describes its Gemini Robotics models as converting vision and language input into motor control. In plain terms: the robot sees the room, hears or reads an instruction like "put the cups in the dishwasher", and the model outputs the joint movements to do it.
- Google DeepMind introduced RT-2 as a VLA model in 2023 and now offers Gemini Robotics, including a version that DeepMind says runs on the robot without a network connection.
- Figure calls its Helix model a generalist VLA running onboard, with a slower "thinking" system and a fast motor-control system.
- NVIDIA publishes its GR00T models for other robot makers to build on.
- 1X calls NEO's model Redwood AI.
These models learn from examples, which is why companies collect so many demonstrations, often by teleoperation. Success rates quoted by companies are their own measurements. Figure, for example, reported in September 2026 a 56% success rate on three household tasks in 30 homes the robot hadn't seen, against 9% for a comparable model trained from scratch, as reported by Crypto Briefing. That's a company-run test, not an independent one.
Can you buy one?
| Robot | Status on October 12, 2026 | Price (maker-stated) |
|---|---|---|
| Unitree G1 | Sold, but backordered. Aimed at researchers and hobbyists; Unitree says the base model doesn't support secondary development (only the EDU version does). | $13,500 plus shipping and customs |
| Unitree R1 | Sold. Only the EDU version supports secondary development. | From $4,900 |
| 1X NEO | Preorder. 1X says US deliveries start in 2026; we found no confirmed customer delivery. | $20,000 with a 3-year warranty, or $499/mo; $200 refundable deposit |
| Weave Isaac 1 | Preorder; first shipments planned for fall 2026, California first. | $7,999 or $449/mo; $250 refundable deposit |
| Tesla Optimus | Not for sale. No order page exists. | None |
| Figure 03 | Not for sale to consumers. | None published |
| Boston Dynamics Atlas | Enterprise early adopters only. | None published |
| Sunday Memo | Not for sale until after its 2026 beta. | Not announced |
Checked against each maker's own site on October 12, 2026. Our announced vs available tracker keeps the current status. We found no Optimus order page from Tesla. A site claiming to take Optimus preorders is not Tesla; don't send money.
The FCC rule and imported robots
In July 2026 the FCC added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to its Covered List, which blocks new equipment approvals for robots made outside the US unless they receive a Conditional Approval. It names no companies; it applies by where a robot is made. Unitree says the G1 and R1 were FCC-certified before the rule took effect, and a law-firm analysis says already-approved models can still be sold. The FCC could act further. Details: the FCC robot rule, explained.
Safety
We found no published safety standard written for home humanoids. A draft sometimes cited, ISO 25785-1, is for industrial robots. See robot safety standards.
Should you wait for one?
If you want help at home today, the robots that reliably do one job, like floor cleaning, mowing or pool cleaning, are mature and cost a fraction of a humanoid. If you're following humanoids, our tracker separates what's shipping from what's promised, and the Robot Graveyard shows what happens when a home robot company doesn't make it.
Related: what is teleoperation · what works if the company dies.
Sources
- Boston Dynamics: an electric new era for Atlas (Apr 2024) and Atlas product page
- Lynch & Park, Modern Robotics
- 1X NEO order page and NEO product page
- Figure: introducing Figure 03 (Oct 2025), F.03 battery (July 2025), Helix, Figure news; Crypto Briefing on Helix 2.5 (Sept 2026)
- InsideHook on the Optimus hand and Electrek (Nov 2024)
- Unitree G1, G1 store, R1 store
- Google DeepMind: Gemini Robotics, RT-2 (2023), Gemini Robotics On-Device (2025)
- NVIDIA Isaac GR00T and GR00T N1 paper
- Weave Isaac 1, Sunday Robotics
- FCC DA 26-786, K&L Gates analysis (Aug 2026), Digital Today on Unitree's FCC certifications (Aug 2026)
All sources read October 12, 2026. Specifications and success rates are company figures.
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