Shanghai Kepler Robotics · China · Full-size
Forerunner K2
The Kepler Forerunner K2, nicknamed "Bumblebee," is the fifth-generation industrial humanoid from Shanghai Kepler Robotics.
$34,000
Verified last monthWhat is in the crate
4 included|4 not included
Dexterous hands included
The K2's defining feature is its hands: rope-driven, five-fingered, with up to 11 degrees of active and passive freedom per hand and a flexible fingertip sensor array of up to 96 contact points per finger. Each hand lifts up to 15 kg (30 kg using both arms). These dexterous tactile hands are part of the standard robot, not an add-on. Exact spare-hand pricing is not published.
In the crate
Reality check
The K2 is a real, mass-produced industrial humanoid with genuinely strong dexterous hands and a full-shift battery, but the ~¥248,000 headline is the China Basic price: what you actually pay overseas is a quote after margin, shipping, and duties, and what you receive is a capable demonstrator that your own engineers must teach before it does a single one of your tasks unattended.
Can you get one, and what will it cost?
A planning estimate with machine, freight, duty, and tax shown separately.
You cannot order the Forerunner K2 today: it is b2b only.
Kepler opened public pre-sales in China (WAIC 2025) in three configurations and moved to mass production in September 2025, so this is a real shipping industrial product, not a concept. But it is aimed at factories, integrators, and developers, not consumers. In China you order through Kepler's official channels; outside China there is no fixed-price consumer checkout: overseas buyers go through quote-based resellers or contact Kepler directly. Treat it as a business/developer purchase, not a click-to-buy gadget.
Import requirements for United StatesConformity, battery shipping, paperwork, and source documents. Review before ordering.
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Catalog checked 2026-09
Businesses and institutions only. Confirm eligibility and configuration with the seller.
Kepler opened public pre-sales in China (WAIC 2025) in three configurations and moved to mass production in September 2025, so this is a real shipping industrial product, not a concept. But it is aimed at factories, integrators, and developers, not consumers. In China you order through Kepler's official channels; outside China there is no fixed-price consumer checkout: overseas buyers go through quote-based resellers or contact Kepler directly. Treat it as a business/developer purchase, not a click-to-buy gadget.
Price notes: The ~$34,000 / ~€31,000 figure is a conversion of Kepler's China pre-sale STARTING price of ¥248,000 for the entry Bipedal Basic configuration (announced at WAIC 2025). Developer and Wheeled Developer configurations cost more (not individually published). Early media estimates of $20,000-$30,000 predate the confirmed ¥248,000 pre-sale price and should be treated as superseded. Overseas (US/EU) buyers pay a quote-only landed price after reseller margin, international shipping, and import duties, which will be materially above the China figure. No deposit terms are publicly documented.
- Kepler Robotics (official, gotokepler.com) (opens in a new tab)
China (direct)
Official manufacturer. China pre-sales opened at WAIC 2025 in three configurations (Bipedal Basic, Bipedal Developer, Wheeled Developer) starting at ¥248,000; entered mass production Sept 2025. Overseas buyers contact Kepler directly; no fixed public export price.
€31,000
Listed purchase price
Prices remain in the seller’s listed currency. Tax, freight, options, and rental periods follow each seller’s terms. A seller’s region does not guarantee delivery to your address.
How the Forerunner K2 rates
Editorial ratings based on listed specifications and sales availability. They do not measure task performance, autonomy, or reliability.
- Class
- Frontier machineA cutting-edge full-scale humanoid aimed at real work. Mostly enterprise, or still proving out.
- CapabilityHardware specification indicators
- 5/5
- Baseline: any humanoid+1
- Degrees of freedom: 52 DOF+2
- Dexterity: dexterous hands included+1
- Scale: 175 cm tall+0.75
Key specifications
Height
175 cm
Width
55 cm
Depth
35 cm
Weight
75 kg
Degrees of freedom
52
Battery
~480 min
Payload
30 kg
Top speed
1 m/s
Understand before you buy
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Size to scale
Drawn next to a 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) person. Every robot on the site uses this same reference, so you can trust the comparison at a glance.
Forerunner K2: 175 cm / 5 ft 9 in, 75 kg
Footprint: 55 cm wide x 35 cm deep
About the Forerunner K2background, hardware and buying reality
It stands 175 cm and weighs 75 kg, with 52 degrees of freedom and its headline feature: rope-driven five-fingered hands with up to 11 DOF each, fingertip sensor arrays of up to 96 contact points, and a 15 kg per-hand lift (30 kg with both). A 2.33 kWh pack delivers Kepler's "1-hour charge, 8-hour operation" cycle, sized to a factory shift, which the company proved in an 8-hour nonstop livestream at WAIC 2025. It walks at roughly 1 m/s with obstacle avoidance and terrain adaptation. Kepler opened China pre-sales in 2025 (Bipedal Basic, Bipedal Developer, Wheeled Developer, starting ~¥248,000 / about $34,000) and moved to mass production in September 2025, then opened a developer platform (Nebula OS core, Kepler Studio, SDK, simulation) at IROS 2025. It is a genuine, shipping industrial product, but a business/developer purchase: overseas buyers go through quote-based resellers, and it is a demonstrator on arrival that must be taught your task.
What it does on day onewith zero programming
Out of the box it is an industrial demonstrator, not an autonomous worker. Day one, with Kepler's shipped software and pre-built skills, it can stand, balance, walk (roughly 1 m/s) with obstacle avoidance and terrain adaptation, move its 52 joints, and run scripted or teleoperated manipulation and sorting routines like the ones Kepler showed in its 8-hour WAIC 2025 livestream (blind-box retrieval, precision sorting, simple games). Doing your specific factory or lab task with zero programming is not realistic: it needs to be taught.
Best for: Factories, logistics operators, automotive plants, and robotics research/education teams that want a strong-handed, shift-length industrial humanoid and have (or will hire) the engineering staff to train and integrate it. Not for consumers or anyone expecting an out-of-the-box autonomous worker.
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