Timeline
From Elektro to the race to work
Humanoid robots from 1928 to today: when they appeared, where, and the moments that changed the field.
Humanoids unveiled each year
Coloured by where the maker is based. Hover a bar for the count.
11558
- North America 94
- Asia 319
- Europe 92
- Other 18
The history in five eras
Key moments in order. Tap a milestone or robot for its sources.
to 1969 Precursors
Showpiece machines that looked human but could not sense or decide.
2 robots in this era1970–1999 Lab pioneers
University and Honda labs teach robots to walk on two legs.
12 robots in this era- 1973
- 1984
- 1986
- 1987
- 1996-12
- 1997
- 1973WABOT-1Widely described as the world's first full-scale humanoid robot: it walked on two legs, gripped objects and spoke simple Japanese.
- 1984WABOT-2First robot built to read sheet music and play a keyboard instrument with both hands and feet; Waseda calls it the first milestone towards a 'personal robot'.
- 1993CogAn influential early upper-body humanoid used to study how a robot could learn through embodiment, like an infant.
- 1994ISAC (Intelligent Soft Arm Control)One of the first humanoids driven by McKibben pneumatic artificial muscles, used for long-running human-robot interaction and cognitive-control research.
- 1996SaikaShowed that a light, low-cost humanoid upper body (about 8 kg and about US$8,000 to develop) could do dynamic tasks like ball hitting and catching.
- 1996P1Honda's first full humanoid prototype (legs plus torso and arms), completed in 1993 and kept secret until 1996.
2000–2012 The ASIMO era
Polished demonstration robots, mostly from Japan, plus research platforms.
122 robots in this era- 2000-11
- 2001-09
- 2002
- 2003-12
- 2005-03
- 2005-09
- 2005-11
- 2005-12
- 2006-01-26
- 2006-03
- 2007-08
- 2008-01
- 2009-03
- 2009-07
- 2009-08
- 2009-10
- 2010-02
- 2011-02-24
- 2011-10-13
- 2011-11
- 2012
- 2012
- 2000DB (Dynamic Brain)A hydraulic full-body humanoid used to study how the brain learns movement; it learned a folk dance and tai chi by watching people and juggled balls.
- 2000PINOOne of the first humanoids whose hardware and software designs were released openly (OpenPINO, from 2001); it won a 2000 Good Design Award and was exhibited at the Venice Biennale and MoMA.
- 2000ASIMOBecame the world's best-known humanoid; inducted into Carnegie Mellon's Robot Hall of Fame in 2004 for showing human-like mobility.
- 2000Xianxingzhe (Pioneer)Described as China's first bipedal humanoid robot.
- 2001KentaAn early whole-body tendon-driven humanoid with a flexible, many-jointed spine; its ICRA 2003 paper was a best-paper finalist.
- 2001RobovieOne of the first humanoids built specifically to study everyday communication between robots and people, with gestures, gaze and speech.
2013–2021 Research to real world
Disaster-response challenges, social robots and the first commercial humanoids.
86 robots in this era- 2013-07
- 2013-08
- 2013-12
- 2013-12
- 2014-06
- 2014-11
- 2015-02
- 2015-06
- 2016-02
- 2016-04
- 2017-10
- 2017-11
- 2018-06
- 2018-09
- 2018-10
- 2019-05
- 2019-08
- 2020-01
- 2020-01
- 2020-08
- 2021-06
- 2021-08
- 2021-12
- 2013REEM-CPAL Robotics' first commercial biped, sold as a research platform for universities.
- 2013TOROOne of the first humanoids with torque sensing in nearly every joint, letting it behave compliantly for safer contact.
- 2013KiroboFirst robot to speak in space (August 2013) and holder of a Guinness record for the highest-altitude robot conversation; kept despite its 34 cm size because of that history.
- 2013BHR-5BIT says two BHR-5 robots rallied a table-tennis ball more than 200 times, a showcase of fast visual tracking and dynamic balance.
- 2013Atlas (DRC hydraulic Atlas)The government-furnished robot for the DARPA Robotics Challenge; seven software teams received identical Atlas units, making it the shared platform of the competition.
- 2013CHIMPTook third place ($500,000) at the 2015 DRC Finals and led after day one, finishing all eight tasks in 55:15.
2022–now The race to work
Dozens of companies build humanoids for factories, warehouses and homes.
301 robots in this era- 2022-03
- 2022-08
- 2022-09
- 2023
- 2023-03
- 2023-03
- 2023-05
- 2023-11
- 2024-01
- 2024-02
- 2024-03
- 2024-04
- 2024-04
- 2024-05
- 2024-05
- 2024-06
- 2024-07
- 2024-07
- 2024-08
- 2024-09
- 2024-11
- 2024-11
- 2024-12
- 2024-12
- 2025
- 2025
- 2025-01
- 2025-02
- 2025-02
- 2025-03
- 2025-04
- 2025-04
- 2025-04
- 2025-04
- 2025-04
- 2025-05
- 2025-06
- 2025-07
- 2025-07
- 2025-07
- 2025-08
- 2025-08
- 2025-09
- 2025-09
- 2025-10
- 2025-10
- 2025-10
- 2025-11
- 2025-11
- 2025-11
- 2025-11
- 2025-11
- 2025-11
- 2025-12
- 2026-01
- 2026-01
- 2026-01
- 2026-02
- 2026-02
- 2026-02
- 2026-03
- 2026-03
- 2026-04
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- 2026-08
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- 2026-08
- 2026-08
- 2026-09
- 2026-09
- 2026-09
- 2026-09
- 2022RobodyIts maker says a Robody was the first humanoid to care for a person with dementia at home (January 2026).
- 2022CyberOneThe first full-size humanoid from a major consumer-electronics maker in the 2020s wave.
- 2022Bumble C (Optimus development platform)Tesla's first humanoid to walk in public, untethered on stage at AI Day 2022.
- 2022OmeifePresented by its maker as Africa's first humanoid robot.
- 2022CUE6Set the Guinness World Records title for the farthest basketball shot by a humanoid robot, 24.55 m, in September 2024.
- 20234NE1Germany's flagship humanoid; NEURA claimed about EUR 1 billion in orders in 2025.