🇺🇸NASA·United States·Prototype

Valkyrie

美国国家航空航天局

NASA's 1.88 m, 44-DOF biped, built for DARPA and future planetary exploration.

PrototypeVerified Last verified 31 Oct 2026
Height188 cm
Degrees of freedom44
Arm payload—
Top speed—
Battery life1 h
Starting pricePrice on request
MakerNASA
First shown2013
StatusPrototype
Form factorFull-size
LocomotionBipedal
Updated31 Oct 2026

What it is

Valkyrie (R5) is NASA Johnson Space Center's first bipedal humanoid, built in 15 months for the 2013 DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials. The 1.88 m, 136 kg robot has 44 degrees of freedom, series-elastic actuators, a Multisense SL perception head and a 1.8 kWh battery for about an hour of operation. NASA later used it for Space Robotics Challenge research with IHMC walking software.

Highlights

01Built for the 2013 DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials.
0244 degrees of freedom, 1.88 m, 136 kg and a 1.8 kWh battery.
03Series-elastic rotary and linear actuators throughout.
04Multisense SL lidar/stereo head plus fore and aft hazard cameras.
05Later used in NASA's Space Robotics Challenge.

The numbers

Body
Height188 cm
Weight136 kg
Form factorFull-size
Motion & power
LocomotionBipedal
Degrees of freedom44
Battery life1 h
ActuatorsSeries-elastic rotary actuators in the arms and legs; series-elastic linear actuators at the ankles and waist.
Compute, sensing & hands
ComputeTwo Intel Core i7 computers.
SensingCarnegie Robotics Multisense SL (lidar, stereo and IR structured light), fore/aft hazard cameras, dual IMUs and joint torque sensors.
HandsThree fingers plus a thumb, with six finger actuators and a 3-DOF forearm/wrist.

Platform & deployment

AvailabilityPrototype

Evidence trail

Claims on this profile are linked to primary reporting and manufacturer material where available.

Specifications are sourced from public materials and may change. Always confirm commercial terms with the manufacturer.