{"id":"cartwheel-yogi","manufacturer":"Cartwheel Robotics","model":"Yogi","country":"US","description":"Yogi is a humanoid from Nevada-based Cartwheel Robotics, designed not as a factory machine but as a friendly \"character\" for interacting with people at home, in hotels or in hospitals. The company was led by Scott LaValley, a former Boston Dynamics and Disney engineer. In early 2026 the founder announced Cartwheel was closing after failing to secure funding.","catalog_status":"in-development","specifications":{"height_cm":null,"weight_kg":null,"payload_kg":null,"dof":null,"speed_ms":null,"battery_h":null},"capabilities":["recover","obstacle"],"source":{"url":"https://www.cartwheelrobotics.com","verified_at":null,"verified_fields":[],"review_status":"requires_current_source_check"},"evidence":{"manufacturer_review":null,"mera_field_test":{"status":"not_published","report_url":null,"measured_at":null},"verification_note":"A manufacturer documentation check does not verify field performance, inventory or MERA compatibility."},"knowledge":{"summary":"Yogi is a humanoid from Nevada-based Cartwheel Robotics, designed not as a factory machine but as a friendly \"character\" for interacting with people at home, in hotels or in hospitals. The company was led by Scott LaValley, a former Boston Dynamics and Disney engineer. In early 2026 the founder announced Cartwheel was closing after failing to secure funding.","sections":[{"h":"History and launch","p":["Cartwheel Robotics was founded in 2021 and initially funded itself through engineering services before deciding to build its own humanoid. LaValley says a full-stack Yogi came together in under a year with 3 million dollars of outside capital and a team of seven. An earlier prototype was called Speedy.","In autumn 2025 the company planned to show a walking prototype at the Humanoids Summit in Silicon Valley in December 2025 and to open a facility in Reno in January 2026. Around February 2026 LaValley wrote on LinkedIn that he was closing the chapter on Cartwheel because it had not found the right capital partner."]},{"h":"Design and technology","p":["Yogi is covered in medical-grade silicone and soft protective materials for safe, comfortable contact. It uses in-house high-torque actuators with overload protection and modular swappable batteries. Height, weight and degrees of freedom were never published."]},{"h":"Software and AI","p":["Cartwheel built its own software stack instead of ROS: custom state estimators, \"motion language models\" that generate natural motion trajectories in real time, and classical model predictive control. LaValley stressed the goal of a character with personality rather than an intimidating machine."]},{"h":"Applications and deployments","p":["Planned uses included greeting and helping hotel guests, guiding patients in medical facilities, and light tasks and companionship at home. The company held preliminary talks about a pilot at a North American medical institution and had interest from universities. No commercial deployments were announced before it closed."]},{"h":"Manufacturer","p":["Scott LaValley spent seven years at Boston Dynamics (including PETMAN and Atlas) and was a principal imagineer at Disney from 2016 to 2021, where he pitched the bipedal platform that led to Baby Groot. He ran Cartwheel with his sister Samantha. The company was a portfolio company of Humanoid Global Holdings Corp."]},{"h":"Price and availability","p":["Yogi was never sold. In autumn 2025 LaValley estimated consumer availability in about four years, subject to fundraising; the company closed before then."]}],"timeline":[["2021","Cartwheel Robotics founded"],["2025-09","LaValley interview with The Register about Yogi"],["2025-10","Walking prototype debut and Reno facility announced"],["2026-02","Founder announces the company is closing (approximate date)"]],"faq":[["Is Cartwheel Robotics still operating?","No. In early 2026 the founder announced the company was closing after failing to raise funding."],["Who created the Yogi robot?","Scott LaValley, formerly of Boston Dynamics and Disney Imagineering."],["What was Yogi designed for?","Social interaction: hospitality, patient guidance and home companionship."],["Was Yogi ever on sale?","No, it did not progress beyond the prototype stage."]],"sources":[{"title":"Inventor who encouraged Elon Musk to make Optimus says most humanoid robots today are 'terrifying'","publisher":"The Register","url":"https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/13/to_make_a_humanoid_robot/","date":"2025-09-13"},{"title":"Upcoming 'Yogi' humanoid robot to focus on human connections","publisher":"Interesting Engineering","url":"https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/cartwheel-robotics-humanoid-robot-yogi","date":"2025-10-17"},{"title":"Cartwheel Robotics company page and founder posts","publisher":"LinkedIn","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/company/cartwheel-robotics","date":"2026"}],"updated":"2026-10-10"},"mera":{"rental_with_operator":false,"sale_in_offer":false,"availability":"confirmation_required","shop_url":null},"url":"https://merarobotics.com/blog/humanoids/cartwheel-yogi","inquiry_url":"https://merarobotics.com/en/start?service=purchase&robot=cartwheel-yogi"}