French Humanoid Robots: France’s Humanoid Robotics Ecosystem
France has one of Europe’s most diverse humanoid robotics ecosystems. It combines industrial humanoids, open-source research platforms, social robots, assistive robotics and embodied AI labs.
Quick summary
- Active industrial humanoids: 1. Calvin-40 is the main French industrial humanoid publicly presented for factory and logistics work.
- Open-source and research robots: 3+. Reachy 2, Poppy Humanoid and HRP-2 research work show the lab side of the French ecosystem.
- Social and service robots: 3. Mirokaï, NAO and Pepper connect French humanoid robotics to education, healthcare and public-facing service.
- Historical French platforms: 3. NAO, Pepper and Romeo shaped the first wave of French humanoid robotics.
Main comparison table
| Robot | Company / Lab | City | Status | Main use | Mobility | Key hardware | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calvin / Calvin-40 | Wandercraft | Paris | Active industrial | Factory and logistics work: heavy load handling, boxes, crates and precision tasks. | Biped humanoid industrial mobility with autonomous task navigation described by Wandercraft. | High-torque motors, high-strength structure, 3D sensing, neural-network vision, whole-body load-adaptive control and safety system described as certifiable by Wandercraft. | Wandercraft Calvin-40 |
| Reachy 2 | Pollen Robotics / Hugging Face | Bordeaux | Active open-source research | Embodied AI research, bimanual manipulation, teleoperation and robotics lab prototyping. | Upper-body humanoid manipulator available with a mobile base using three omniwheels and LiDAR. | Bimanual arms, 7-DoF arm design, camera-based head, mobile base option, Python SDK, VR teleoperation and ROS 2 Humble support. | Pollen Robotics Reachy 2 |
| Miroki / Miroka / Mirokaï | Enchanted Tools | Paris | Active service robot | People-facing service in hospitals, senior living, hotels, restaurants, retail, events, museums and airports. | Indoor mobile humanoid service robot with adaptive navigation for shared public spaces. | Expressive character design, arms for carrying and grasping, protected joints, lower center of gravity, visual feedback, cellular connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E and autonomous charging according to Enchanted Tools. | Enchanted Tools Mirokaï |
| NAO | Aldebaran / Maxtronics | France / Issy-les-Moulineaux support | Legacy / supported education platform | Education, programming, research, healthcare activities and human-robot interaction experiments. | Small biped humanoid platform for indoor interaction and programmed motions. | 58 cm body, 25 degrees of freedom, cameras, microphones, tactile sensors, sonars and IMU listed by Maxtronics for NAO6. | Maxtronics NAO6 |
| Pepper | Aldebaran / SoftBank Robotics | French-origin platform, global deployment | Discontinued / legacy social robot | Customer reception, public interaction, social robotics research and education. | Wheeled semi-humanoid service robot for indoor public-facing environments. | Humanoid upper body, expressive head and arms, chest tablet, cameras and microphones in the classic Pepper platform. | Reuters / SoftBank Robotics context |
| Romeo | Aldebaran with French research partners | Paris and French research network | Historical research platform | Assistive humanoid research for elderly people or people with reduced autonomy. | Large humanoid research platform designed around walking, perception, manipulation and assistive interaction research. | Research platform reported around a 1.40 m humanoid body, with work on perception, walking, object carrying and assistive tasks. | Romeo research project summary |
| Poppy Humanoid | Inria / Poppy Project | Bordeaux / Talence ecosystem | Active open-source education and research platform | Education, makers, open hardware, robotics teaching and research experiments. | 3D-printed humanoid kit and related Poppy platform variants for educational robotics. | Open-source robotic platform with assembly guides for Poppy Humanoid, Poppy Torso and Ergo Jr, with programming options documented for the Poppy ecosystem. | Poppy Project documentation |
| HRP-2 at LAAS-CNRS | LAAS-CNRS / CNRS-AIST JRL research context | Toulouse | Research platform present in France | Humanoid motion planning, locomotion and manipulation research. | Japanese-developed humanoid platform used in French research at LAAS-CNRS/JRL context. | HRP-2 is a humanoid research platform originally developed in Japan. The France connection is the Toulouse research presence, not French manufacturing origin. | LAAS-CNRS robotics context |
| UMA / Northstar | UMA | Paris | Watchlist | Reported industrial and commercial robotics direction; public robot details remain limited. | Not confirmed publicly enough for technical classification. | No public hardware specification included here because official information is limited. | Business Insider reporting |
Robot profiles
- Calvin / Calvin-40: Wandercraft, Paris, Active industrial. Factory and logistics work: heavy load handling, boxes, crates and precision tasks. High-torque motors, high-strength structure, 3D sensing, neural-network vision, whole-body load-adaptive control and safety system described as certifiable by Wandercraft.
- Reachy 2: Pollen Robotics / Hugging Face, Bordeaux, Active open-source research. Embodied AI research, bimanual manipulation, teleoperation and robotics lab prototyping. Bimanual arms, 7-DoF arm design, camera-based head, mobile base option, Python SDK, VR teleoperation and ROS 2 Humble support.
- Miroki / Miroka / Mirokaï: Enchanted Tools, Paris, Active service robot. People-facing service in hospitals, senior living, hotels, restaurants, retail, events, museums and airports. Expressive character design, arms for carrying and grasping, protected joints, lower center of gravity, visual feedback, cellular connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E and autonomous charging according to Enchanted Tools.
- NAO: Aldebaran / Maxtronics, France / Issy-les-Moulineaux support, Legacy / supported education platform. Education, programming, research, healthcare activities and human-robot interaction experiments. 58 cm body, 25 degrees of freedom, cameras, microphones, tactile sensors, sonars and IMU listed by Maxtronics for NAO6.
- Pepper: Aldebaran / SoftBank Robotics, French-origin platform, global deployment, Discontinued / legacy social robot. Customer reception, public interaction, social robotics research and education. Humanoid upper body, expressive head and arms, chest tablet, cameras and microphones in the classic Pepper platform.
- Romeo: Aldebaran with French research partners, Paris and French research network, Historical research platform. Assistive humanoid research for elderly people or people with reduced autonomy. Research platform reported around a 1.40 m humanoid body, with work on perception, walking, object carrying and assistive tasks.
- Poppy Humanoid: Inria / Poppy Project, Bordeaux / Talence ecosystem, Active open-source education and research platform. Education, makers, open hardware, robotics teaching and research experiments. Open-source robotic platform with assembly guides for Poppy Humanoid, Poppy Torso and Ergo Jr, with programming options documented for the Poppy ecosystem.
- HRP-2 at LAAS-CNRS: LAAS-CNRS / CNRS-AIST JRL research context, Toulouse, Research platform present in France. Humanoid motion planning, locomotion and manipulation research. HRP-2 is a humanoid research platform originally developed in Japan. The France connection is the Toulouse research presence, not French manufacturing origin.
- UMA / Northstar: UMA, Paris, Watchlist. Reported industrial and commercial robotics direction; public robot details remain limited. No public hardware specification included here because official information is limited.
France robotics hubs
- Paris: Paris concentrates industrial humanoids, service robots, Aldebaran heritage and the next startup watchlist. Robots: Wandercraft Calvin, Enchanted Tools Mirokaï, Aldebaran legacy, UMA watchlist.
- Bordeaux: Bordeaux connects open-source humanoid hardware, embodied AI and education-oriented robotics. Robots: Pollen Robotics Reachy 2, Poppy ecosystem.
- Toulouse: Toulouse is important for humanoid research, motion planning, robotics labs and CNRS platforms. Robots: LAAS-CNRS, HRP-2 research platform.
Timeline
- NAO: NAO helped define French humanoid robotics in education, programming labs and RoboCup-style research.
- Romeo: Romeo explored assistive humanoid robotics with Aldebaran and French research partners.
- Pepper: Pepper pushed social robotics into public-facing environments, then became a lesson in deployment economics.
- Poppy: Poppy opened humanoid robotics to education, makers and open hardware experimentation.
- Reachy 2: Reachy 2 connects French robotics to embodied AI, bimanual manipulation and open-source development.
- Calvin: Calvin brings French humanoid robotics closer to industrial work in factories and logistics.
Active vs historical classification
- Active / current: Calvin, Reachy 2, Mirokaï, Poppy Humanoid
- Historical / legacy: NAO, Pepper, Romeo
- Research platform present in France: HRP-2 at LAAS-CNRS
- Watchlist: UMA / Northstar
Sources
- Wandercraft Calvin-40 — Active industrial
- Pollen Robotics Reachy 2 — Active open-source research
- Enchanted Tools Mirokaï — Active service robot
- Maxtronics NAO6 — Legacy / supported education platform
- Reuters / SoftBank Robotics context — Discontinued / legacy social robot
- Romeo research project summary — Historical research platform
- Poppy Project documentation — Active open-source education and research platform
- LAAS-CNRS robotics context — Research platform present in France
- Business Insider reporting — Watchlist