{"id":"kinisi-kr1","manufacturer":"Kinisi Robotics","model":"KR1","country":"US","description":"KR1 is a wheeled mobile manipulator with a humanoid upper body, built by Kinisi Robotics to pick, place, sort and move goods in warehouses. The company was founded by Brennand \"Bren\" Pierce, a co-founder of Bear Robotics. In June 2026 Bear Robotics announced it would acquire Kinisi.","catalog_status":"in-development","specifications":{"height_cm":null,"weight_kg":null,"payload_kg":10,"dof":null,"speed_ms":null,"battery_h":8},"capabilities":["obstacle","recover"],"source":{"url":"https://www.kinisi.ai","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":"KR1 is a wheeled mobile manipulator with a humanoid upper body, built by Kinisi Robotics to pick, place, sort and move goods in warehouses. The company was founded by Brennand \"Bren\" Pierce, a co-founder of Bear Robotics. In June 2026 Bear Robotics announced it would acquire Kinisi.","sections":[{"h":"History and launch","p":["Pierce founded Kinisi in late 2023 after academic work on humanoids, a stint at Samsung and co-founding Bear Robotics, the restaurant-robot maker. Early 2024 prototypes used a single arm on a wheeled base, with OpenAI's assistant as the logic layer driving the arm and gripper.","In July 2025 Pierce unveiled the KR1 (Kinisi 01): a two-armed, two-handed version on a mobile base, aimed at pick-and-place work."]},{"h":"Design and technology","p":["KR1 has no legs. Pierce argues that about 80% of the jobs humanoids are pitched for do not need walking and warehouse floors are flat; a two-wheel base is cheap, dynamically stable and has room for big batteries. Interesting Engineering reports a 10 kg payload, up to 8 hours per charge, hot-swappable batteries and auto-docking. Processing runs on board rather than in the cloud."]},{"h":"Software and AI","p":["The robot is trained by imitation: operators demonstrate a task instead of coding it. Experience from each unit is meant to feed a shared fleet-wide data flywheel. According to The Spoon, Kinisi has its own vision-language-action model and a robot foundation model for manipulation."]},{"h":"Applications and company","p":["Target sectors are warehousing, logistics, fulfillment, retail and packaging; Pierce has also mentioned restaurant work and grocery box packing. No customers or prices have been disclosed.","Kinisi started inside Bear Robotics' Redwood City headquarters, and The Spoon describes it as a Bristol-based startup. In June 2026 Bear Robotics, majority-owned by LG since 2025, signed a definitive agreement to acquire Kinisi. On closing, Pierce is to become Bear's Chief Robotics Officer and keep leading the KR1 platform."]}],"timeline":[["2023","Brennand Pierce founds Kinisi Robotics"],["2024-10","Early single-arm prototypes on a wheeled base"],["2025-07","Two-armed KR1 unveiled"],["2026-06","Bear Robotics announces it will acquire Kinisi"]],"faq":[["Does Kinisi KR1 walk?","No, it rolls on a wheeled base. The founder argues legs are unnecessary in warehouses."],["What is the KR1 payload?","About 10 kg, according to Interesting Engineering."],["How long does KR1 run on a charge?","Up to 8 hours, with swappable batteries and automatic docking."],["Who acquired Kinisi?","Bear Robotics, the restaurant-robot company, announced the deal in June 2026."]],"sources":[{"title":"5 questions with Kinisi Robotics founder Bren Pierce","publisher":"The Robot Report","url":"https://www.therobotreport.com/5-questions-with-kinisi-robotics-founder-bren-pierce/","date":"2024-10-04"},{"title":"Humanoid robot KR1 for warehouse operations","publisher":"Interesting Engineering","url":"https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/humanoid-robot-kr1-warehouse-ops","date":"2025-07-14"},{"title":"Bear adds humanoids to robot lineup with acquisition of Kinisi","publisher":"The Spoon","url":"https://thespoon.tech/bear-adds-humanoids-to-robot-lineup-with-acquisition-of-kinisi/","date":"2026-06"}],"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/kinisi-kr1","inquiry_url":"https://merarobotics.com/en/start?service=purchase&robot=kinisi-kr1"}