Collections
Robot Prototypes and Concepts — 40 Projects Before the Market
40 robots at prototype or concept stage, 32 of them humanoids: who builds them, from which countries, and why you cannot buy them yet.
Key facts
- Models in the catalogue40
- Manufacturers35
- Price range116,286 PLN (≈ EUR 26,650 at NBP rate 4.3641 of 21 October 2026) – 465,144 PLN (≈ EUR 106,580) (4 models with a price)
- Available in Poland0 of 40
- Data as of10 October 2026
A prototype is a robot that has been built and shown publicly but is not on sale; a concept is an announcement without a finished unit. The Robolupa database holds 40 such entries — 36 prototypes and 4 concepts — from 35 manufacturers and research institutions. This list shows what may reach the market in a few years and what will stay an experiment.
Humanoids dominate: 32 of the 40 entries (80%). The rest are two educational robots, three home robots, and one each of AMR, cobot and service robot. By country of origin the US leads (9), followed by Japan and China (7 each), South Korea (6) and Germany (4); Poland has two entries, both from Clone Robotics (Clone Alpha and the Protoclone). Among commercial firms the most entries belong to Tesla (three: Optimus Gen 2, the Gen 3 concept and home plans — see Tesla Optimus Gen 2) and LG (three: the Q9, the CLOiD and a bipedal humanoid announced for 2027). Toyota and Toyota Research Institute together have two robots: the Punyo and the T-HR3. The newest entry is the DEEP Robotics DR02, a humanoid prototype from China's DEEP Robotics presented in 2025.
Alongside the companies are the research centres that have set the direction for years: Waseda (WABIAN-2), MIT (HERMES), TUM (LOLA), KAIST (HUBO 2 Plus), DLR (TORO), NASA (Valkyrie), IIT (ergoCub), AIST (HRP-5P) and Stanford (ToddlerBot). Their robots are rarely designed for sale, but their solutions in drives and control later find their way into commercial products.
Of the 40 entries, 25 carry a presentation date, and 15 of those fall in 2024–2026 (seven from 2024, five from 2025 and three from 2026). The oldest are Hitachi's EMIEW 2 (2007) and HUBO 2 Plus (2011). Technical data is incomplete: degrees of freedom are given for 21 of the 40 entries and a price for only four (USD 30,000 to 120,000) — estimated or announced figures, not price lists. That is why we do not set prototypes against on-sale robots parameter by parameter; doubts are normally settled by a datasheet, which is usually missing here (“How to Read a Robot Datasheet”).
Pilot robots, already being deployed with first customers (22 entries in the database), do not belong in this group — they are a separate stage between prototype and sale. The prototype status can also be transitional: models such as Atlas (Atlas) move from demonstrations to pilots and first orders.
How to read this list? As a map of intentions, not an offer. Manufacturers' announcements are worth setting against market analyses (“Humanoid Robot Market Forecasts”) and write-ups of specific projects such as “Tesla Optimus: What We Actually Know (as of September 2026)” or “Boston Dynamics Electric Atlas”. Behind the pace of the work are the control models described in “VLA Models: How AI Controls Humanoid Robots in 2026”. You will also find the makers on the pages of Tesla, LG Electronics and Clone Robotics.
Full list of models (40)
Every entry of the collection with links to the pages on this site.
* price converted from a foreign currency; the rate and date are in the tooltip and on the model page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a prototype and a concept?
A prototype is a built and publicly shown unit that is not on sale. A concept is an announcement or design without a demonstrated, working robot.
How many humanoid prototypes are in the database?
Of the 40 prototype or concept entries, 32 are humanoids (80%). They come mainly from the US, Japan, China, South Korea and Germany.
Can any of the prototypes be bought?
No, prototype status means there is no regular sale. If the manufacturer brings the robot to market, the entry moves to pilots, pre-order or on sale.
Are humanoid prototypes being built in Poland?
The database has two entries from the Polish company Clone Robotics: Clone Alpha and Protoclone, both with prototype status.
Where this list comes from
The collection is generated from the Robolupa catalogue by a fixed criterion described in the introduction and changes with the data. Prices in zloty come from Polish shops or are converted from foreign currencies (marked with an asterisk). How data are collected and checked is described on the page Methodology.
About the authors
A chief engineer by profession (technical head of a ship's machinery plant, licensed). Sets the site's editorial rules and is responsible for them; he does not read every page before publication.
Texts are prepared by the editorial team using AI tools. We compare data with primary sources on a sample basis, not page by page. Our rules are described here: How we check · About us