Rainbow Robotics HUBO-2

What it's for

HUBO-2 is a 125-centimeter, 45-kilogram robot that walks at 0.42 m/s. It was a research platform for bipedal walking from the start, and that is how our catalog lists it: use case "bipedal research platform", customers being scientific institutions.

The first scenario is locomotion research. The robot has 38 degrees of freedom, electric drive and a bipedal build, so it lets researchers test gait, balance and step-planning algorithms on real hardware rather than only in simulation. That is a laboratory setting. The second is teaching: robotics universities use platforms like this so students can see what whole-body control problems look like; the background is covered in “How Does a Humanoid Robot Work”. The third is historical: the HUBO line gave rise to the DRC-HUBO variant, which won the DARPA Robotics Challenge in 2015. Note the caveat: the victory belongs to the DRC-HUBO variant, not to every unit in the family.

What HUBO-2 does not do: it is not a robot for warehouse work or customer service. The manufacturer gives no payload figure, and battery runtime is about 2 hours. It has no supplier in Poland, and we found no current price data in the sources. If you want a humanoid for today's applications, look at “Humanoid Robots in Factories 2026”. HUBO-2 belongs to a world in which robots learned to walk before foundation models arrived (“VLA Models: How AI Controls Humanoid Robots in 2026”).

Who it's for

Makes sense for: scientific institutions that already have contacts at Rainbow Robotics and are looking for a proven family of bipedal platforms; historians of technology and editors who want to understand where today's humanoid boom came from, where the path from KAIST to a listed company is particularly interesting (Rainbow Robotics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology); and teams comparing older and newer designs.

Less suited to: a company that wants to deploy a robot, because HUBO-2 has no publicly available specifications to compare with competitors and its price is unknown; buyers in Poland, since no local representative offers the robot; and anyone looking for a platform with open documentation. Those who want a clear datasheet should look at robots that have one, such as Reachy 2 (Reachy 2).

Deployments

HUBO-2 is not offered here, and our catalog lists no Polish university with this robot. Globally the robot is sold to research institutions, but we found no named buyers in verified sources, so we do not list any.

In the category: Rainbow Robotics' newer branch, the RB-Y1, is in pilots at Coupang, Samsung and Toyota. Among research platforms, NASA Valkyrie (Valkyrie) and DLR TORO (TORO) play similar roles. The Polish robotics research scene is covered in “Polish Robotics Companies” and “How to Start Learning Robotics in Poland”.

Rainbow Robotics RB-Y1 (Rainbow Robotics RB-Y1) is a newer robot from the same company: wheeled, dual-arm, 140 cm, 24 DOF, in pilots at Coupang, Samsung and Toyota. For someone who wants to manipulate rather than walk, it is a more sensible choice than the bipedal HUBO-2.

KAIST HUBO 2 Plus (HUBO 2 Plus) is a close relative from 2011: 130 cm, 43 kg, the basis for the later company. You cannot buy it, since it is a historical design, but it is an excellent reference point for understanding the lineage.

Reachy 2 (Reachy 2) costs USD 70,000 and has a clear specification, ROS 2 and LeRobot support. It does not walk, but if you are researching manipulation and learning, it is the simplest way to get started.

iCub (iCub) is 104 cm and 22 kg, with 53 motors and 9-DOF hands, priced at around EUR 250,000 and sold to institutions. It is the pick for teams interested in the cognitive development of robots.

TALOS from PAL Robotics (PAL Robotics TALOS) is a direct competitor in the class of research robots for walking and manipulation: 175 cm, 95 kg, with torque sensors in nearly every joint. It is larger and heavier than HUBO-2 but comes with clearer documentation.

The HUBO pedigree goes back to the KAIST lab in Daejeon. The DRC-HUBO variant won the DARPA Robotics Challenge in 2015, one of the most prestigious robotics competitions in the world. HUBO-2 appears in our catalog with a presentation date of 2008, and its close relative HUBO 2 Plus with 2011. Rainbow Robotics was spun out of KAIST, founded in 2011 according to our catalog and now listed on the Seoul stock exchange under the symbol KRX:277810, with Samsung as a shareholder. In March 2024 the company showed the RB-Y1, a wheeled mobile manipulator with two arms. The development of this kind of design is explained in “Degrees of Freedom (DOF) in Humanoid Robots”.