The German industrial giant Siemens has begun its first humanoid pilot program, partnering with the boldly and aptly named British startup Humanoid.
The 179-year-old conglomerate and the 2-year-old startup just announced they completed a proof-of-concept (POC) testing humanoids in an industrial logistics environment. The trial deployed Humanoid’s wheeled HMND 01 Alpha robot at the Siemens Electronics Factory in Erlangen.
“We’re tackling production automation, discovering new opportunities for Siemens, and are eager to advance this promising technology across our factory network to deliver customer value,” Stephan Schlauss, Global Head of Manufacturing Motion Control, Siemens AG, said in a news release.
For companies like Humanoid, partnering with Siemens means access to its global network of major manufacturers, infrastructure operators, mobility providers, utilities companies, and more. Its products and software control factory automation lines, manage electricity distribution and energy systems, power and signal rail networks, operate building systems, and support advanced manufacturing with digital twin, PLM and simulation software.
According to Humanoid, the robot autonomously picked totes from a stacked storage area, transported them to a conveyor, and placed them at a designated handoff point for human workers. They repeated the sequence until the stacks were fully depleted.
The companies reported that the robot met all its target performance and reliability metrics during its two-week deployment at the factory that makes Siemens’ electronic control and automation products. Reported results included throughput of 60 tote moves per hour, continuous operation exceeding 30 minutes, and uptime exceeding 8 hours. Fully autonomous pick-and-place success rates exceeded 90 percent.
The HMND 01 is a human-shaped mobile manipulator designed more for industrial utility than lifelikeness. Its design and functionality are closer to an industrial cobot than a bipedal humanoid. Instead of five-fingered dexterous hands, its end effectors are simplified industrial grippers. Both companies describe the project as an initial step, with the potential to expand into additional logistics use cases and multi-robot deployments across Siemens plants.
Launched by serial entrepreneur Artem Sokolov in 2024, Humanoid introduced its first robot in 2025. The HMND 01 is designed as a modular, adaptable platform for autonomous manipulation and mobility. The startup has boasted its rapid iterations that got its robot from concept to pilots within months. Standing 175 cm (5 feet 9 inches) and weighing 70 kg (154 lbs), HMND 01 can handle payloads of around 15 kg (33 lbs).
Humanoid has also introduced a bipedal version of the robot. According to the startup, the HMND 01 Alpha Bipedal robot demonstrated stable walking within 48 hours of assembly through extensive simulation training before physical testing.