Aldebaran (formerly Aldebaran Robotics, later SoftBank Robotics Europe) · social humanoid
Pepper
A 1.21 m, 28 kg wheeled humanoid with a chest tablet, two arms with five-finger hands and an omnidirectional base, designed to talk with customers and families.
- Price
- $1,930Cheaper than 96%
- Height
- 121 cmTaller than 15%
- Weight
- 28 kgHeavier than 12%
- Payload
- —Not published
- Speed
- 3.0 km/hFaster than 22%
- Battery
- 12 hRuns longer than 97%
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
Marketed as the first personal robot that reads human emotions, and the most widely sold wheeled humanoid of the 2010s.
Real-world use
Went on sale in Japan in 2015 and was used in shops, banks and schools worldwide; SoftBank later paused production (date not confirmed in sources gathered here).
Maker
Aldebaran (formerly Aldebaran Robotics, later SoftBank Robotics Europe)Company · founded 2005 · Paris, FranceUS$13 million venture round led by Intel Capital (June 2011); acquired by SoftBank for about US$100 million (2013); sold to United Robotics Group…
How it stacks up
Against other humanoids that publish the figure. Pick a measure.
Pepper is taller than 15% of the 305 other humanoids that publish a height. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
Pepper is heavier than 12% of the 277 other humanoids that publish a weight. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
Pepper is faster than 22% of the 122 other humanoids that publish a speed. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
Pepper has more joints than 9% of the 236 other humanoids that publish a joints. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
Pepper runs longer than 97% of the 119 other humanoids that publish a battery. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
Pepper costs less than 96% of the 85 other humanoids that publish a price. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
Not published by the maker: payload.
Public attention
A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current humanoids.
- 4,776 views of its Wikipedia article in the last 90 days (Pepper (robot))
- 4 news stories from reputable press listed on this page
- 4 reported deployments
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 · 20 joints
- Actuators & motors
- 20 motors: head 2 axes, shoulders 2 each, elbows 2 each, wrists 1 each, hands 1 each, hip 2, knee 1, plus a 3-axis omnidirectional wheeled base.
- Hands
- Five-fingered hands moved by one motor each (1 DoF), with touch sensors on the hands.
- Sensors & vision
- Head: 4 microphones, 2 RGB cameras, 1 3D depth sensor, 3 touch sensors; chest gyro; base: 2 sonars, 6 laser sensors, 3 bumpers and a gyro.
- Battery & power
- Lithium-ion, 30.0 Ah / 795 Wh; about 12 hours or more of operation in shop use.
- AI & software
- NAOqi OS shared with NAO; emotion recognition from face and voice, cloud-based 'Cloud AI' databases, and an SDK for robot apps.
- Other details
- 10.1-inch touchscreen on the chest; Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4/5 GHz) and gigabit Ethernet; 1.21 m and 28 kg; up to 3 km/h. Manufactured by Foxconn.
Named suppliers:VARTA
Lineage
Every SoftBank Mobile and Aldebaran Robotics humanoid in order.
Made, sold and where
Unit counts are usually company figures; analysts often disagree.
- Price
- $1,930JPY 198,000 base price excluding tax and required service plans (about $1,930 at June 2014 rates)
- How to get one
- No official buying page found
- Built
- About 27,000 produced before production stopped in 2020, according to sources cited by Reuters in June 2021 (Reuters, 2021)
- Sold or delivered
- The initial 1,000 units offered in Japan on June 20, 2015 sold out in one minute (SoftBank, July 2015)
- Where it is sold or used
- Japan from 2015, then other markets including the UK (2016)
- Customers and pilots
- SoftBank shops in Japan (demo units from June 2014)
Where it works
4 reported deployments.
- Deployed
SoftBank Mobile · SoftBank Omotesando and SoftBank Ginza stores · Tokyo · since 2014-06
Pepper started greeting customers in two SoftBank Mobile shops in Tokyo in June 2014, with more stores planned. SoftBank
- Deployed
Hamazushi · All Hamazushi restaurant branches · since 2016 · 488 units
Sushi chain Hamazushi used Pepper in all of its restaurants in Japan. SoftBank Corp.
- Deployed
Pepper PARLOR · Pepper PARLOR, Tokyu Plaza Shibuya · Tokyo · since 2019-12 · 10 units
A Tokyo cafe, Pepper PARLOR, opened with about a dozen Pepper robots serving guests. About a dozen robots The Register
- Deployed
HMSHost · Avenue des Canadiens, Montréal-Trudeau International Airport · Montreal · since 2018-01
Montreal's airport used Pepper robots to greet travellers and suggest restaurants. HMSHost
News
The latest 4, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.
- Aldebaran, la vedette de la robotique française, placée en liquidation judiciaire
Aldebaran, maker of NAO and Pepper, was placed in judicial liquidation by the Paris commercial court on June 2, 2025.
Le Monde - Exclusive: SoftBank shrinks robotics business, stops Pepper production - sources
Reuters reported that Pepper production had stopped in 2020 after struggling to find customers; a source said 27,000 units were produced.
Reuters (via Investing.com) - SoftBank to Offer 1,000 ‘Pepper’ Units on July 31
SoftBank confirmed that the first 1,000 Pepper units offered June 20 sold out in one minute, and announced a further 1,000 units for July 31.
SoftBank - SoftBank unveils Pepper
SoftBank and Aldebaran introduced an emotion-reading robot priced at 198,000 yen.
SoftBank
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 |  PepperSoftBank Mobile and Aldebaran Robotics |  DreamerUniversity of Texas at Austin and Meka RoboticsSame job: social · Both on wheels · Both past robots | 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 | No public photo yetWe only show photos we're allowed to useSmartPal VIIYaskawa ElectricSame job: home · Both on wheels · Both past robots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First shown | 2014-06-05 | 2012 | 2012 | 2011-11 |
| Status | Discontinued | Retired | Discontinued | Retired |
| Height | 121 cm | — | — | — |
| Weight | 28 kg | — | — | — |
| Joints | 20 | — | — | — |
| Speed | 3 km/h | — | — | — |
| Payload | — | — | — | — |
| Battery | 12 h | — | — | — |
| Price | $1,930 | — | — | — |
Sources
Figures come from the maker. Every link below backs something on this page.
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