"Asimov"... a humanoid robot you can assemble yourself for $15,000. The company delivers the robot disassembled and includes manuals and videos to guide users through the assembly process. Riyadh - Arabia Business Published: May 19, 2026: 03:06 PM GST Last updated: May 19, 2026: 05:48 PM GST * Link copied Listen to the article. The audio text is automatically generated by an automated system. Singapore-based AI and robotics research company "Mentele Research" has unveiled a "build-it-yourself" version of its open-source humanoid robot "Asimov," aimed at hobbyists, researchers, and robotics enthusiasts. The price for this humanoid robot package is approximately $15,000, which is close to the estimated cost of manufacturing components, reflecting a broader trend to make bipedal robots more accessible and easier to obtain. This humanoid robot stands 1.20 meters tall and weighs about 35 kilograms, featuring over 25 degrees of freedom. This provides developers with a fully customizable research platform rather than a ready-to-use commercial product, according to a report by "Interesting Engineering," a specialized technology and innovation news site, reviewed by "Arabia Business." The company delivers the robot to customers fully disassembled, accompanied by detailed instruction manuals and educational videos to guide users through the assembly process. One of the robot's notable technical aspects is its modular architecture: leg, arm, torso, and head modules are connected via unified motor mounting bases, allowing users and developers to replace or upgrade components without redesigning the entire system. This approach reduces maintenance complexity while enabling rapid experimentation with new actuators and control systems. The robot's design integrates an ankle mechanism that provides two degrees of freedom for rotation and bending motions. This design helps improve torque distribution across the ankle joint, making the robot more adaptable to uneven surfaces and ground reaction forces during walking. To facilitate motion control, "Asimov" uses unactuated toes, which help the robot transition from standing to pushing forward, improving balance and stability while reducing computational and mechanical complexity. Most structural components are optimized to be compatible with Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing technology, allowing for the production of strong, lightweight parts without relying on expensive machining processes. This reduces manufacturing costs and makes replacement and customization easier for developers. The "Asimov" robot's software system relies on a simulation approach called "Processor-in-the-Loop," which deliberately abandons idealized models in robotics. Instead of assuming perfect, perfectly synchronized sensor data and deterministic physics, the training environment introduces realistic operational errors to better simulate real-world conditions. This model learns to adapt to uncertainty and partial observability. The result is a direct simulation-to-reality transfer without additional setup, allowing the robot to walk forward, backward, and recover from external pushes directly without needing further tuning or calibration. This robot package is not cheap, with a target price of around $15,000. However, the company publishes a complete bill of materials on its GitHub repository, allowing users to independently purchase components and potentially reduce the overall cost. According to "Hackaday," while the cost is still relatively high, it is far more accessible compared to previous humanoid robot systems that required multi-million dollar funding during development.

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