Meka Robotics · research humanoid
M1 Mobile Manipulator
A wheeled research humanoid with an expressive head and two compliant arms with dexterous hands, built to work safely next to people. Meka was later bought by Google.
- Price
- $340,000Cheaper than 5%
- Height
- 160 cmTaller than 40%
- Weight
- 165 kgHeavier than 96%
- Payload
- —Not published
- Speed
- 3.6 km/hFaster than 30%
- Battery
- —Not published
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Why it matters
A discontinued humanoid from Meka Robotics.
Real-world use
First M1-Custom shipped in January 2011 to an unnamed customer
Maker
Meka RoboticsCompany · founded 2006 · San Francisco, United Statesfunding not disclosed; acquired by Google (Google X) in December 2013, later part of Alphabet's X
How it stacks up
Against other humanoids that publish the figure. Pick a measure.
M1 Mobile Manipulator is taller than 40% of the 305 other humanoids that publish a height. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
M1 Mobile Manipulator is heavier than 96% of the 277 other humanoids that publish a weight. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
M1 Mobile Manipulator is faster than 30% of the 122 other humanoids that publish a speed. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
M1 Mobile Manipulator has more joints than 57% of the 236 other humanoids that publish a joints. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
M1 Mobile Manipulator costs less than 5% of the 85 other humanoids that publish a price. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
Not published by the maker: payload, battery.
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 2026-10-14; same method for every robot. How it is measured
What’s inside
The parts the company has talked about publicly.
- Movement
- Wheeled base · 33 joints
- Actuators & motors
- Series elastic actuators with joint torque control in the arms and hands. 33 DoF: 7 per arm, 5 per hand, 9 in the head. Holonomic (omnidirectional) base with a prismatic lift.
- Hands
- 5 DoF per hand, compliant and SEA-driven. The M1-Standard shipped with Meka's compliant grippers; M1-Custom buyers could choose hands.
- Sensors & vision
- Pan-tilt head with a Microsoft Kinect 3D camera and a 5-megapixel Ethernet camera; six-axis force/torque sensor in each wrist; joint torque and angle sensors; optional extra sensor suite.
- Compute
- Three 2.5 GHz Intel Core2 Duo processors on board.
- Battery & power
- 24 V, 60 Ah battery; about 1 hour of operation.
- Materials & build
- Machined aluminium and sheet metal.
- AI & software
- Ubuntu Linux with RTAI and Meka's M3 real-time control stack, plus ROS extensions.
- Other details
- Design inspired by Georgia Tech's Cody research robot; built for safe collaboration with people.
Named suppliers:ROS (Open Robotics)IntelMicrosoft (Kinect)
From the maker
M1 Mobile Manipulator is the only humanoid from Meka Robotics in the atlas.
Watch M1 Mobile Manipulator
Made, sold and where
Unit counts are usually company figures; analysts often disagree.
- Price
- $340,000M1-Standard list price per IEEE Spectrum (Feb 2011); M1-Custom priced per configuration.
- How to get one
- No official buying page found
- Sold or delivered
- Sold to research labs. M1-Standard listed at $340,000 (IEEE Spectrum, Feb 2011).
- Where it is sold or used
- Meka Robotics, San Francisco, United States
- Customers and pilots
- First M1-Custom shipped in January 2011 to an unnamed customer
News
The latest 2, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.
- Google buys Meka in robotics spree
Meka was one of seven robotics firms Google acquired for Andy Rubin's new robotics group.
IEEE Spectrum - Meka launches the M1 mobile manipulator
Meka unveiled the M1 with a Kinect head and ROS support, priced at $340,000 in standard form.
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. Few robots match closely, so these are the nearest matches. How we choose
| Measure | M1 Mobile ManipulatorMeka Robotics |  CHIMPCarnegie Mellon University NREC (Tartan Rescue)Same job: research · Both on wheels · Both past robots |  MomaroUniversity of Bonn (Autonomous Intelligent Systems group, team NimbRo Rescue)Same job: research · Both on wheels · Both past robots |
|---|---|---|---|
| First shown | 2011-02 | 2013-12 | 2015-06 |
| Status | Discontinued | Retired | Retired |
| Height | 160 cm | — | — |
| Weight | 165 kg | 201 kg | 58 kg |
| Joints | 33 | — | — |
| Speed | 3.6 km/h | — | — |
| Payload | — | — | — |
| Battery | — | — | 2 h |
| Price | $340,000 | — | — |
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