MIT Media Lab Personal Robots Group with UMass Amherst and Meka Robotics · research humanoid
Nexi
MDS robot
The first of the 'mobile, dexterous, social' robots: an expressive face with movable eyebrows, eyelids and jaw on a wheeled base derived from UMass Amherst's uBot5, with two force-sensing arms and hands, camera eyes and a microphone array. A 2008 video of its facial expressions went viral and TIME listed it among the best inventions of 2008; the US Navy's Octavia is a sister MDS robot.
- 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
TIME ranked it 17th among the Best Inventions of 2008; it was the first robot of the MDS class later built for the US Navy.
Real-world use
No customers or deployments reported yet.
Timeline
- First shown
- 2008-04
- Released
- Not yet
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
- No recent press stories listed yet
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
No component details published yet.
- Hands
- dexterous
- Movement
- Wheeled base
From the maker
Nexi (MDS robot) is the only humanoid from MIT Media Lab Personal Robots Group (Cynthia Breazeal) with UMass Amherst and Meka Robotics in the atlas.
Made, sold and where
No production or sales figures published yet.
- Price
- Not published
- How to get one
- No official buying page found
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 | Nexi (MDS robot)MIT Media Lab Personal Robots Group (Cynthia Breazeal) with UMass Amherst and Meka Robotics |  EMIEW2HitachiSame job: social · Both on wheels · Both past robots |  REEMPAL RoboticsSame job: social · Both on wheels · Both past robots | No public photo yetWe only show photos we're allowed to useOliviaA*STAR Social Robotics LabSame job: social · Both on wheels · Both past robots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First shown | 2008-04 | 2007 | 2010 | 2009 |
| Status | Retired | Retired | Discontinued | Retired |
| Height | — | 80 cm | 170 cm | — |
| Weight | — | 13 kg | 90 kg | — |
| Joints | — | — | 22 | — |
| Speed | — | 6 km/h | 4 km/h | — |
| Payload | — | — | 30 kg | — |
| Battery | — | — | 8 h | — |
| Price | — | — | — | — |
Sources
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