Alex
Last updated:
Alex is a fully electric, full-size bipedal humanoid research robot built by IHMC Robotics at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition and unveiled in November 2025 as the successor to Nadia. Funded by the Office of Naval Research with the Army Research Laboratory and Army Data Analysis Center, it is designed to leave the lab: onboard computation, perception and power let it walk outdoors and in urban buildings with stairs, ladders and debris. Alex has 29 joints driven by custom, highly backdrivable quasi-direct-drive actuators with cycloidal transmissions, and weighs about 85 kg with its battery (Nadia weighed about 100 kg). IHMC targets dangerous work such as disaster response and military missions, with Alex acting as a human teammate or avatar. In 2026 Alex won the US Army's xTechHumanoid competition. Note: this is IHMC's legged Alex, not the upper-body robot of the same name from spin-off Boardwalk Robotics.
Quick Overview & Key Facts
Alex is a humanoid system developed by IHMC Robotics in United States and launched in 2025. Starting price is estimated at Approx. $250,000 – $500,000 (research platform; not for sale). It is currently ranked #343 in most-viewed humanoid robots on Origin of Bots. It supports Tools, debris, boxes and equipment in buildings and outdoor sites. Operating battery runtime is rated at Approx. 2 hours per charge. Primary applications include Disaster response and search in damaged buildings, military and first-responder avatar missions, outdoor urban operations and building exploration, and humanoid locomotion and loco-manipulation research.
What Can Alex Do?
Core operational tasks and activities demonstrated or performed by Alex.
Real-World Applications of Alex
Industries, working environments, and deployment suitability for Alex.
Alex Capabilities
Inherent physical, perceptual, and cognitive abilities built into Alex.
Download Media Cards
Story CardExport high-resolution story cards summarizing Alex's operational tasks, real-world applications, and capabilities.
Image Gallery
Below images are from IHMC Robotics's official sources
Review Videos
Watch expert reviews and demonstrations of this robot
Robot Specifications
Robot Timeline
Key milestones in this robot's development and rollout
IHMC introduces Alex, its next-generation fully electric humanoid funded by the Office of Naval Research, as the successor to Nadia built to work outside the lab.
Source: IHMC ↗
IHMC Robotics releases footage of Alex walking outdoors across brick paving, gravel and sidewalks on its Pensacola campus.
Source: IHMC Robotics (YouTube) ↗
IHMC researchers publish a runtime-editable loco-manipulation behavior system demonstrated on Alex and the Unitree H1-2, including fast door traversal under disturbance.
Source: arXiv ↗
Alex wins the US Army's xTechHumanoid competition with impact-resilient actuators, ballistic protection and hybrid AI-plus-human autonomy.
Source: The Defense Post ↗
More Robots from IHMC Robotics
Explore other robots from this manufacturer
Nadia
Manufactured by IHMC Robotics
Nadia is a full-size research humanoid built by IHMC Robotics at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition with collaborators Boardwalk Robotics, Morfey Ltd and H4 Labs. Named after gymnast Nadia Comăneci, it was designed for a human-like range of motion so that it can work in buildings with stairs, ladders and debris, for jobs such as firefighting, disaster response and explosive ordnance disposal. It has 29 joints driven by a mix of Moog hydraulic Integrated Smart Actuators in the legs, custom electric actuators in the pelvis and electric arms (later replaced by an IHMC-designed arm), uses composite materials for a high power-to-weight ratio, and weighs about 100 kg. Nadia became known for push recovery, VR-teleoperated boxing and autonomous ping-pong. It is tethered to off-board power and is now IHMC's legacy platform, succeeded in 2025 by the fully electric Alex.
More Humanoid Robots
Discover more robots in the same category
Robots From Other Categories
Discover complementary robots from different categories that work well together
Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers to common questions about this robot
Q1. What is Alex, and what problem is it designed to solve?
Alex is a fully electric, full-size humanoid research robot from IHMC Robotics in Florida. It is meant to take over dangerous jobs, such as disaster response and military missions, so that people do not have to be put in harm's way.
Q2. What are the main capabilities and key features of Alex?
It walks on two legs, carries its own computers, sensors and battery so it can work outdoors, and uses powerful custom actuators that keep it light and fast. It can run autonomous behaviors or be teleoperated, and it has five-finger hands for manipulation.
Q3. Who is Alex built for, and which industries can benefit from it?
It is built for defense and disaster-response research sponsored by the US Navy and Army, and as a platform for advancing humanoid walking, manipulation and teleoperation research.
Q4. Is Alex a commercial product or still a research prototype?
It is a research prototype. IHMC builds Alex in-house for its research programs and does not sell it as a commercial product.
Q5. Is Alex currently available for purchase, and when is it expected to ship?
No. Alex is not offered for sale; organizations interested in collaborating on research can contact IHMC directly.
Q6. How does Alex actually work in real-world environments?
IHMC's whole-body controller handles balance and walking, a behavior system lets operators build and edit tasks while the robot runs, and an operator can supervise or take over through virtual-reality teleoperation. Testing takes place both in the lab and outdoors on IHMC's campus.
Q7. When was Alex announced or officially launched?
IHMC introduced Alex in November 2025, showed it in public during 2026, and the robot won the US Army xTechHumanoid competition in October 2026.
Q8. How is Alex different from other robots in the same category?
Alex is built to go outside and into rough, dangerous places, with ballistic protection and impact-resilient actuators. It also benefits from IHMC's long track record in humanoid control software, much of which is open source.
Q9. Does Alex require additional development or customization after purchase?
As a research platform it is continuously developed by IHMC engineers, who add new behaviors, controllers and hardware improvements for each project.
Q10. What is the future roadmap or planned upgrades for Alex?
IHMC plans to make the body lighter and faster, reach human-level speeds, add behavior cloning and better simulation, and develop Alex into a capable teammate for outdoor urban operations and building exploration.
Rating and Reviews
Share your experience and help others decide!
Loading...
User Reviews
No user reviews. Be the first one to review!
User Comments (No Login needed)
Share your thoughts, experiences, or questions about this robot.
Comments are reviewed before posting.