Menlo Research · Other · Mid-size
Asimov v1
A 1.2-meter, 35kg open-source bipedal humanoid that ships as a $20,000 unassembled, 3D-printable kit, handing developers the full CAD, wiring and simulation model to build and train their own robot from the frame up.
$20,000
Verified last monthWhat is in the crate
7 included|3 not included
No hands, none offered
Asimov v1's arms are 5-DOF each (shoulder pitch/roll/yaw, elbow, wrist yaw) and end at the wrist with no hand or gripper in the published design. Menlo positions the arms as strong (rated for roughly 15kg bicep curls and 18kg lateral raises per arm) but end-effectors are left to the builder; because the platform is fully open-source, users can design and mount their own hands or grippers.
In the crate
Reality check
This is a build-it-yourself research kit, not a robot: for $20,000 you get an unassembled bipedal platform with no hands and no bundled autonomy, so unless your team can 3D-print, wire a CAN-bus/dual-compute robot, and train RL policies in simulation, it will sit as a project rather than a working humanoid.
Can you get one, and what will it cost?
A planning estimate with machine, freight, duty, and tax shown separately.
Delivery to United States needs seller confirmation.
US authorization: We found no public FCC ID for this model. Since 28 July 2026 a foreign-made robot can be sold into the US only under an FCC authorization from before that date, so ask the seller for its FCC ID, or its Supplier's Declaration of Conformity dated before 28 July 2026, before you pay.
We do not have a confirmed shipping route for the Asimov v1 to United States. Coverage in another country does not establish delivery here, so no delivered total is shown.
The kit sells in production batches for $20,000 at menlo.ai (Batch 4 forming, $499 deposit), but no US-specific shipping terms have been published. The fully open BOM and CAD also let a US buyer self-source and build the robot without the kit.
Check a buying routeImport requirements for United StatesConformity, battery shipping, paperwork, and source documents. Review before ordering.
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Open the import referenceWhere to buy
Catalog checked 2026-09
Individuals and companies can inquire. Confirm the configuration, stock, and delivery with the seller.
Price notes: Menlo Research sells the "Here Be Dragons Edition" DIY kit for $20,000 in production batches: Batch 4 is forming now and is reserved with a $499 deposit, and Menlo says the final price may vary by destination country because of tariffs and shipping. The price is close to the project's estimated bill-of-materials cost. No official EUR price is published; a rough conversion is about EUR 17,600 and excludes VAT, import duties and shipping. Self-sourcing from the fully open BOM can change the total cost either way.
- Menlo Research (opens in a new tab)
International seller
Batch 4 forming: the "Here Be Dragons Edition" DIY kit at $20,000, reserved with a $499 deposit; final price may vary by destination (checked 30 Sep 2026). No shipping-country list has been published.
$20,000
Listed purchase price
- Self-build from the open BOM (opens in a new tab)
International seller
The full design (CAD, wiring, MuJoCo sim, BOM) is open-source under CERN-OHL-S-2.0 and GPL-2.0, so the parts can be sourced and printed locally with no kit and no import at all.
Request a quote
Price not published
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 Asimov v1 rates
Editorial ratings based on listed specifications and sales availability. They do not measure task performance, autonomy, or reliability.
- Class
- Developer / demo platformA platform for demonstrations or robotics development. SDK access and supported tasks depend on the exact configuration.
- CapabilityHardware specification indicators
- 3/5
- Baseline: any humanoid+1
- Degrees of freedom: 25 DOF+1
- Dexterity: no hands, none offered0
- Scale: 120 cm tall+0.5
Key specifications
Height
120 cm
Width
n/a
Depth
n/a
Weight
35 kg
Degrees of freedom
25
Battery
n/a
Payload
5 kg
Top speed
n/a
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.
Asimov v1: 120 cm / 3 ft 11 in, 35 kg
What it does on day onewith zero programming
Nothing works on arrival because it ships as a completely unassembled kit: day one is a build project (assemble the frame, actuators, wiring and dual-compute from the manual and videos). Even after assembly there is no bundled autonomy; the locomotion policy and Asimov API are still "coming soon," so the platform's immediate value is as a research/dev testbed you train yourself. Menlo's own demos show a fully built unit walking forward/backward and recovering from pushes, plus seeing, listening and speaking via its camera, mics and speaker, but those behaviors come from Menlo's software work, not a plug-and-play mode in the kit.
Best for: Robotics researchers, labs and advanced hobbyists who want a hackable, fully open bipedal platform to train locomotion and manipulation policies, and who are comfortable assembling hardware and writing their own control stack.
What it takes to developskills, gear, and SDK access
Substantial. Buyers assemble the robot from parts, then bring up software themselves: the stack is Python-first with a MuJoCo simulation model and a Processor-in-the-Loop (PIL) pipeline for reinforcement-learning locomotion training. Menlo's tooling includes Uranus (behavior validation in simulation) and Cyclotron (training locomotion and manipulation policies). A public Asimov API is planned but not yet released, so early builders work directly with the open CAD, schematics, sim model and CAN-bus motor interface. Comfort with 3D printing, embedded Linux (Raspberry Pi 5 + Radxa CM5), CAN bus, RL/robotics simulation and Python is expected.
SDK access: Fully open-source: hardware under CERN-OHL-S-2.0 and software under GPL-2.0, with mechanical CAD, electrical wiring schematics, a MuJoCo simulation model and a complete bill of materials published on GitHub (github.com/asimovinc). Simulation and training tooling (Uranus for validation, Cyclotron for policy training) plus a PIL framework are the current path; the higher-level "Asimov API," a ready locomotion policy and a mobile app are on the roadmap as coming soon rather than shipping today.
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