Nori A3: a domestic humanoid assembled in the United States for $1,688

The San Franciscan start-up Nori Robotics is selling a rolling base robot, 19 degrees of freedom, capable of lifting 55 kg vertically. First deliveries this autumn.

Humanoids are usually traded in six figures. San Francisco-based Nori Robotics is taking the opposite view with the Nori A3, assembled in the United States and priced at $1,688, with deliveries announced for the fall. The company says that its first batch has gone quickly and that a second, limited batch is in the works; it is explicitly aimed at developers, laboratories and research teams as well as individuals.

Technically, the robot gives up bipedal walking in favor of a rolling base, with the upper body taking care of the handling tasks. It has 19 degrees of freedom and a central trunk capable of raising and lowering the head and arms. The payload reaches 55 kg when lifted vertically, but drops to 1.5 kg with outstretched arms. The autonomy announced is between six and eight hours.

For perception and navigation, the A3 has a lidar and four 720p cameras distributed over the hands, head and neck, as well as a speaker and microphone for voice commands. The manufacturer cites as domestic use cases fetching food from a refrigerator, pouring drinks, loading a dishwasher or folding laundry — tasks that the user trains himself, the skills can then be shared.