{"id":"kepler-k2-bumblebee","manufacturer":"Kepler","model":"K2 Bumblebee","country":"CN","description":"K2 \"Bumblebee\" is a bright yellow bipedal industrial humanoid from Shanghai's Kepler Robotics. \"Bumblebee\" is the nickname of the K2 itself, not a separate edition. It combines planetary roller screw linear actuators with rotary actuators, walks with straight knees and has been in mass production since September 2025 at 248,000 yuan per unit.","catalog_status":"preorder","specifications":{"height_cm":175,"weight_kg":75,"payload_kg":30,"dof":52,"speed_ms":null,"battery_h":null},"capabilities":["sort","assemble","obstacle","recover"],"source":{"url":"https://www.gotokepler.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":"K2 \"Bumblebee\" is a bright yellow bipedal industrial humanoid from Shanghai's Kepler Robotics. \"Bumblebee\" is the nickname of the K2 itself, not a separate edition. It combines planetary roller screw linear actuators with rotary actuators, walks with straight knees and has been in mass production since September 2025 at 248,000 yuan per unit.","sections":[{"h":"History and launch","p":["Kepler Robotics was founded in Shanghai in 2023, and the K2 succeeds its K1. First units went to the SAIC-GM plant in Shanghai in April 2025. In September 2025 the company showed a straight-knee gait over bricks, plastic and grass, and later that month announced mass production and customer shipments."]},{"h":"Hardware","p":["The robot stands 1.75 m tall and weighs 75 kg, with a combined dual-arm payload of up to 30 kg. Its distinguishing feature is a hybrid serial-parallel drive: joints use planetary roller screw linear actuators (14 per robot) alongside rotary actuators. Kepler says the screws exceed 80% efficiency and the whole system reaches up to 81.3%, giving about eight hours of operation on a one-hour charge.","The hands have 11 degrees of freedom with fingertip sensors. About 80% of core components, including motors, hands and roller screws, are made in-house; the screws alone account for roughly 20% of the robot's cost."]},{"h":"Software and AI","p":["The gait was trained with reinforcement learning in GPU-accelerated simulation across thousands of parallel instances, plus imitation of human walking such as heel strike and toe-off. A layered VLA+ model handles natural-language commands, with some cognitive functions running in the cloud."]},{"h":"Use cases and deployments","p":["Automotive manufacturing (including SAIC-GM) comes first, followed by logistics, sorting, assembly, guided tours, exhibitions and hazardous work. Kepler reports framework agreements for several thousand units worth hundreds of millions of yuan and estimates a 1.5 to 1.8 year payback for customers, while conceding that large-scale production-line deployment is three to five years away."]},{"h":"Manufacturer","p":["Kepler Robotics is based in Shanghai's Zhangjiang technology hub. Since early 2025 it has closed three funding rounds with strategic investors from precision components, sensors, machine tools and servo systems."]},{"h":"Price and availability","p":["Kepler lists the K2 at 248,000 yuan per unit (reported as roughly $30,000 to $35,000). It has been in mass production and shipping to customers since September 2025."]}],"timeline":[["2023","Kepler Robotics founded in Shanghai"],["2025-04","First K2 deployment at SAIC-GM"],["2025-09","Straight-knee walking demo and start of mass production"]],"faq":[["How much does the Kepler K2 Bumblebee cost?","248,000 yuan per unit according to Kepler."],["Is K2 Bumblebee different from K2?","No. Bumblebee is the K2's nickname, a nod to its yellow color."],["How long does the K2 battery last?","Up to about eight hours after a one-hour charge, according to Kepler."],["How much can Kepler K2 lift?","Up to 30 kg with both arms."],["Where is Kepler K2 deployed?","Its first deployment was at the SAIC-GM plant in Shanghai."]],"sources":[{"title":"Kepler Announces Mass Production of its K2 \"Bumblebee\"","publisher":"Humanoid Robotics Technology","url":"https://humanoidroboticstechnology.com/industry-news/kepler-announces-mass-production-of-its-k2-bumblebee/","date":"2025-09-26"},{"title":"China's humanoid robot achieves human-like straight-knee walk","publisher":"VnExpress International","url":"https://e.vnexpress.net/news/tech/tech-news/china-s-humanoid-robot-achieves-human-like-straight-knee-walk-4939063.html","date":"2025-09-14"},{"title":"China's humanoid robot start-ups race to scale before Tesla arrives","publisher":"Jiemian","url":"https://en.jiemian.com/article/13765547.html","date":"2025"}],"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/kepler-k2-bumblebee","inquiry_url":"https://merarobotics.com/en/start?service=purchase&robot=kepler-k2-bumblebee"}