Robot Era
Robot Era (星动纪元) is a Beijing humanoid robot company founded in August 2023 by Chen Jianyu, a Tsinghua University spin-out incubated by Tsinghua's Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences with support from the Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute. It builds the STAR1 and L7 bipedal humanoids, the Q5 service robot, XHAND dexterous hands and the ERA-42 embodied AI model, which can carry out more than 100 tasks from voice commands. By June 2025 Robot Era had delivered more than 200 robots worldwide, with customers including Haier Smart Home, Lenovo and a logistics firm. Its funding includes a pre-Series A of nearly 300 million yuan in October 2024 led by Crystal Stream Capital, Vision Plus Capital and Alibaba, and a Series A of nearly 500 million yuan, about US$69 million, announced on 7 July 2025 and co-led by CDH Investments and Haier Capital. In June 2026 it was reported to have raised more than 4 billion yuan in total, with its humanoids heading to SF Express logistics.
💡Notable Achievement: Robot Era announced a nearly 500 million yuan Series A on 7 July 2025 and had delivered more than 200 robots by June 2025.
What Does Robot Era Do?
Robot Era (星动纪元) is a Beijing Tsinghua spin-out founded in 2023 that makes STAR1 and L7 humanoids, XHAND hands and the ERA-42 model.
“Tsinghua-born humanoids with in-house hands and AI.”
Hardware
STAR1, L7, Q5 and XHAND.
ERA-42
Executes more than 100 tasks from voice commands.
Delivery
More than 200 robots delivered.
What Can Robot Era Robots Actually Do?
Cross-portfolio operational capabilities, manipulation tasks, and environmental competencies
Bipedal humanoids and dexterous hands.
Bipedal Locomotion
STAR1 and L7 are agile bipeds.
Dexterous Hands
XHAND hands handle objects.
Robot Era Robots
Showing 4 Humanoid Robots of 4 total models
RobotEra M7
By: Robot Era
Launched: 2026
M7 is Robot Era's upper-body humanoid: a 119 cm, 43-DoF torso with two dexterous XHAND-compatible hands mounted on a vertical pillar stand. Built for embodied-AI research, teleoperation data collection, dexterous manipulation and human-robot interaction where mobility is not needed, it runs Robot Era's ERA-42 vision-language-action model on a Linux and ROS software stack.
RobotEra Q5
By: Robot Era
Launched: 2025
The Robot Era Q5 is an advanced wheeled humanoid robot engineered for service, healthcare, and research applications, featuring 44 degrees of freedom for lifelike whole-body coordination and natural human interaction. Its bionic 7-axis arms extend up to 1.38 meters with 11-DOF "Fairy Hands" or XHAND Lite dexterous grippers, enabling precise manipulation of objects up to 10 kg per hand, such as item delivery, handoffs, and gestural communication. A slim waist and compact base facilitate agile navigation in confined indoor spaces like malls, hotels, and facilities, powered by LiDAR, stereo vision fusion, and SLAM for autonomous obstacle avoidance and route planning. Embedded ERA-42 embodied AI supports rapid learning from human motion data, voice dialogue, intention recognition, and teleoperation via app, VR, or gestures. Expressive motions, multi-sensor integration, and optional NVIDIA Jetson compute make Q5 ideal for customer engagement, guided tours, and collaborative tasks, bridging research and deployment with minimal programming needs.
Star1
By: Robot Era
Launched: 2024
Star1 by Robot Era is a versatile humanoid robot designed to blend advanced AI with practical utility. Engineered for both commercial and domestic environments, Star1 excels in logistics, customer service, and interactive companionship. Its human-like dexterity and perception allow seamless collaboration in warehouses, retail, and hospitality. With adaptive learning capabilities, it continually improves its efficiency. Its sleek design and intuitive controls make Star1 a standout in China’s growing robotics market, delivering both reliability and cutting-edge technology to a wide range of industries.
Robot Era L7
By: Robot Era
Launched: 2025
The Robot Era L7 is a cutting-edge bipedal humanoid robot standing 171 cm tall and weighing 65 kg. It features 55 degrees of freedom for whole-body dexterity, including a 12-DoF fully direct-driven dexterous hand. The L7 excels in both speed and manipulation, capable of running at 4 m/s (14.4 km/h) and carrying dual-arm payloads up to 20 kg. Equipped with binocular cameras, 3D LiDAR, and a microphone array, it offers 360° spatial perception and advanced environmental adaptation. Its applications range from industrial automation and logistics to entertainment and research, with capabilities such as hip-hop performance, bartending, sorting, assembly, and teleoperation. The robot integrates AI-powered control with a high-performance onboard computer for real-time responsiveness and complex task execution.
Robot Era Software & AI Ecosystem
Developer platforms, fleet management portals, autonomy intelligence, and enterprise integrations
ERA-42
Embodied Large Model
Executes over 100 tasks from voice commands.
Robot Era Timeline & Milestones
Evolutionary history, landmark prototypes, major acquisitions, and commercial roadmap
Robot Era founded
Chen Jianyu founds Robot Era, a Tsinghua University spin-out, to build humanoid robot hardware and software.
Source: caixinglobal.com
Pre-Series A of nearly 300 million yuan
Robot Era raises nearly 300 million yuan in a pre-Series A round led by Crystal Stream Capital, Vision Plus Capital and Alibaba.
Source: roboticstomorrow.com
Series A of nearly 500 million yuan
Robot Era announces a Series A of nearly 500 million yuan (US$69 million) co-led by CDH Investments and Haier Capital.
Source: caixinglobal.com
Raises over 4 billion yuan and enters SF Express logistics
Robot Era is reported to have raised over 4 billion yuan in total, with its humanoids set to work in SF Express logistics.
Source: pandaily.com
Robot Era Competitors by Category
Direct industry rivals grouped by specific robotics domain
Unitree Robotics (宇树科技)
Industry PeerModel: Unitree G1 / H1
Focus: Low-cost mass-market bipedal humanoids and high-speed running research platforms
AgiBot (智元机器人)
Industry PeerModel: Expedition A1 / A2
Focus: Industrial assembly and logistics humanoids backed by strong venture capital
UBTECH Robotics (优必选)
Industry PeerModel: Walker S / Walker S1
Focus: Commercial automotive factory deployments (NIO, BYD, Geely)
Figure AI
→Model: Figure 02
Focus: End-to-end neural network general-purpose humanoids in automotive plants (BMW)
What Makes Robot Era Different?
Editorial AnalysisOrigin of Bots objective strategic assessment, engineering moats, and commercial hurdles
Key Strengths & Moats
- ✓Strong investors including Haier Capital.
- ✓Own AI and hands.
Core Strategic Focus
Logistics and industrial deployments.
Road Ahead & Challenges
- •Prices not published.
- •Competitive Chinese market.
Robot Era vs Key Competitors
Strategic capability matrix across platform categories, commercial readiness, and target markets
Form Factor & Height
- STAR1 (Robot Era)
- Full-size Biped (171 cm)
- Unitree G1
- Compact Biped (132 cm)
- AgiBot A2
- Full-size Biped (175 cm)
- Walker S1 (UBTECH)
- Full-size Biped (172 cm)
Max Running Speed
- STAR1 (Robot Era)
- 3.6 m/s (12.9 km/h - World Record)
- Unitree G1
- 2.0 m/s (7.2 km/h)
- AgiBot A2
- 1.5 m/s (5.4 km/h)
- Walker S1 (UBTECH)
- 1.8 m/s (6.5 km/h)
Degrees of Freedom (Full Body)
- STAR1 (Robot Era)
- 55 DoF (with hands)
- Unitree G1
- 23–43 DoF
- AgiBot A2
- 40+ DoF
- Walker S1 (UBTECH)
- 41 DoF
Peak Joint Actuator Torque
- STAR1 (Robot Era)
- 400 N·m
- Unitree G1
- 120 N·m
- AgiBot A2
- 350 N·m
- Walker S1 (UBTECH)
- 250 N·m
Core AI & Locomotion Stack
- STAR1 (Robot Era)
- End-to-End RL + ERA-42 VLA
- Unitree G1
- Unsupervised RL + Imitation
- AgiBot A2
- AgiOS Embody-Brain AI
- Walker S1 (UBTECH)
- Cognitive Brain + Co-Bipedal Control
| Strategic Dimension | STAR1 (Robot Era) | Unitree G1 | AgiBot A2 | Walker S1 (UBTECH) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form Factor & Height | Full-size Biped (171 cm) | Compact Biped (132 cm) | Full-size Biped (175 cm) | Full-size Biped (172 cm) |
| Max Running Speed | 3.6 m/s (12.9 km/h - World Record) | 2.0 m/s (7.2 km/h) | 1.5 m/s (5.4 km/h) | 1.8 m/s (6.5 km/h) |
| Degrees of Freedom (Full Body) | 55 DoF (with hands) | 23–43 DoF | 40+ DoF | 41 DoF |
| Peak Joint Actuator Torque | 400 N·m | 120 N·m | 350 N·m | 250 N·m |
| Core AI & Locomotion Stack | End-to-End RL + ERA-42 VLA | Unsupervised RL + Imitation | AgiOS Embody-Brain AI | Cognitive Brain + Co-Bipedal Control |
Corporate Ecosystem & Ownership Structure
Parent company relationships, historical acquisitions, and global operating facilities
Tsinghua University
Robot Era is a Tsinghua spin-out.
Ownership & Acquisition History
Robot Era is a Tsinghua spin-out.
Global Facilities & Operating Hubs
Robot Era Headquarters
HQHaidian District, Beijing, China
Articles & Industry News
Showing 5 recent articles and news updates about Robot Era
Robotera's L7 Masters 3-Meter Flips, Sword Dances and a recent RMB 1 billion funding boost in March 2026
News about Robot Era L7
L7 Humanoid Masters Sword Dance at 4m/s Speed
News about Robot Era L7
Q5 Wheeled Humanoid Redefines Service Robots With Ultra-Human Interaction
News about RobotEra Q5
RobotEra L7 Racing Into Warehouses: 14.4 km/h Humanoid Cuts Picking Costs with ERA‑42 Deal
News about Robot Era L7
Robot Era Unleashes Blazing Star1 Humanoid
News about Star1
Robot Comparisons
Showing 8 in-depth comparisons featuring Robot Era — Explore all comparisons →
L7 by Robot Era vs VR-H3 by VinRobotics
Compare L7 by Robot Era vs VR-H3 by VinRobotics for humanoid mobility, dexterity, autonomy, and payload capacity in industrial applications.
Q5 by Robot Era vs ELIXIS W by Addverb
Compare Q5 by Robot Era and ELIXIS W by Addverb Technologies. Detailed analysis of sensors, navigation, battery, and price.
Q5 (Robot Era) vs Reflex Humanoid
Which robot wins? Q5 vs Reflex Humanoid compared across sensors, navigation, battery, speed, and price.
Q5 by Robot Era vs HMND 01 Alpha Wheeled by HUMANOID
Q5 or HMND 01 Alpha Wheeled? Compare specs, speed, sensors, navigation, and battery for service vs industrial performance.
L7 by Robot Era vs Next-Gen IRON by XPENG
Head-to-head: L7 vs Next-Gen IRON. Explore differences in speed, sensors, navigation, and AI capabilities.
Star1 by Robot Era vs Phoenix by Sanctuary AI
Compare Star1 and Phoenix. Detailed analysis of speed, sensors, AI capabilities, and navigation.
Q5 by Robot Era vs Tron 2 by LimX Dynamics
Compare Q5 and Tron 2. Detailed analysis of mobility, sensors, and battery life.
Mirokaï by Enchanted Tools vs Q5 by Robot Era
Which robot wins? Mirokaï vs Q5 compared across sensors, navigation, speed, battery, and price for service robotics applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
8 AnswersVerified answers, company specifications, and deployment details about Robot Era
What is Robot Era?
Robot Era, or 星动纪元, is a Beijing humanoid robot company founded in August 2023 as a Tsinghua University spin-out that makes STAR1 and L7 humanoids, XHAND hands and the ERA-42 AI model.
Who founded Robot Era?
Robot Era was founded in August 2023 by Chen Jianyu, with support from Tsinghua University's Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences and the Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute.
What is the Robot Era STAR1?
STAR1 is Robot Era's bipedal humanoid known for agility, and the L7 builds on it with advanced upper-limb dexterity. Robot Era also sells the Q5 service robot and XHAND hands.
How many robots has Robot Era delivered?
Robot Era had delivered more than 200 robots worldwide by June 2025, with customers including Haier Smart Home, Lenovo and a logistics firm.
How much has Robot Era raised?
Robot Era raised nearly 300 million yuan pre-Series A in October 2024 and nearly 500 million yuan in its Series A in July 2025, and was reported to have raised over 4 billion yuan in total by June 2026.
What is ERA-42?
ERA-42 is Robot Era's embodied AI large model, which can carry out more than 100 tasks from voice commands on its humanoid robots.
Who invests in Robot Era?
Robot Era's investors include CDH Investments, Haier Capital, Crystal Stream Capital, Vision Plus Capital, Alibaba and Tsinghua Holdings, which increased its stake in the 2025 Series A.
How much does the Robot Era STAR1 cost?
Robot Era has not published a standard list price for STAR1 or L7. Customers, including logistics companies, arrange purchases directly with the company.
Verified Data & Editorial Assurance
Compiled from verified corporate filings, official Robot Era datasheets, and robotics engineering registries. Information has been verified against official manufacturer documentation. For commercial procurement or proprietary integrations, contact the manufacturer directly.