{"id":"rainbow-rb-y1","manufacturer":"Rainbow Robotics","model":"RB-Y1","country":"KR","description":"RB-Y1 is a mobile humanoid from South Korea's Rainbow Robotics: a dual-arm torso on a 6-DoF \"leg\" mounted on a wheeled base. It went on sale in August 2024 as a platform for manipulation, teleoperation and learning-from-demonstration research. Rainbow Robotics has been a Samsung Electronics subsidiary since December 2024.","catalog_status":"shipping","specifications":{"height_cm":140,"weight_kg":131,"payload_kg":20,"dof":20,"speed_ms":null,"battery_h":null},"capabilities":["sort","assemble","obstacle"],"source":{"url":"https://www.rainbowrobotics.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":"RB-Y1 is a mobile humanoid from South Korea's Rainbow Robotics: a dual-arm torso on a 6-DoF \"leg\" mounted on a wheeled base. It went on sale in August 2024 as a platform for manipulation, teleoperation and learning-from-demonstration research. Rainbow Robotics has been a Samsung Electronics subsidiary since December 2024.","sections":[{"h":"History and launch","p":["Rainbow Robotics grew out of the KAIST lab that built HUBO, Korea's first bipedal robot, in 2004; a modified DRC-HUBO won the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals in 2015. The company later focused mainly on cobots (the RB series from 2019), and the RB-Y1, launched in August 2024, marks its return to humanoids in wheeled form.","Rainbow has released several hardware revisions (1.0 to 1.3), differing among other things in wrist design and mobile base type."]},{"h":"Design and hardware","p":["Rainbow lists the RB-Y1 at 600 x 690 x 1400 mm (W x D x H). Each 7-DoF arm carries 3 kg with cobot-grade ±0.05 mm repeatability. The torso sits on a 6-DoF leg that lets it bend and change height, and the head has 2 DoF. The A version with a differential base has 20 DoF in total; the M version with mecanum wheels has 26.","It is heavy: the upper body is 38 kg (11 kg per arm, 16 kg torso), the lower body 42 kg, and the base 51 kg (A) or 90 kg (M), for 131 or 170 kg overall. Top driving speed is 1.5 m/s. The 50 V battery holds 1,250 Wh (A) or 2,500 Wh (M). The shell is aluminium, joints have brakes that hold position on power loss, and version 1.2 includes force-torque sensors in both arms."]},{"h":"Software and AI","p":["The robot uses two computers: a Robot PC runs the 500 Hz real-time control loop and safety functions, and a User PC hosts researchers' applications in C++, Python and ROS 2 via the RB-Y1 SDK, which is open-sourced on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 licence. Rainbow does not prescribe a control method, so users can build their own impedance, optimal or whole-body controllers.","Rainbow supplies URDF, MJCF and USD models for simulation and hardware for collecting learning-from-demonstration data: leader arms (including a stand-mounted version) and VR teleoperation. Version 1.3 uses a more human-like wrist layout to make teleoperation easier."]},{"h":"Applications and deployments","p":["Rainbow positions the RB-Y1 for research in teleoperation, human-robot interaction, real-world manipulation and AI training. It does not publish customer names or unit numbers."]},{"h":"Manufacturer","p":["Rainbow Robotics was founded in February 2011 under KAIST professor Oh Jun-ho and listed on KOSDAQ in February 2021. Samsung Electronics made a strategic investment in January 2023, and Rainbow became a Samsung subsidiary in December 2024. It also makes cobots, RBM mobile robots and RBQ quadrupeds, and moved its headquarters to Sejong in 2026."]},{"h":"Price and availability","p":["The RB-Y1 is on sale, but Rainbow does not list a price; orders go through the company and its distributors."]}],"timeline":[["2004","KAIST lab builds HUBO, Korea's first bipedal robot"],["2011-02","Rainbow Robotics founded"],["2015-06","DRC-HUBO wins the DARPA Robotics Challenge"],["2021-02","KOSDAQ listing"],["2023-01","Strategic investment from Samsung Electronics"],["2024-08","RB-Y1 launched"],["2024-12","Rainbow Robotics becomes a Samsung Electronics subsidiary"]],"faq":[["How much does the RB-Y1 weigh?","131 kg for the A version and 170 kg for the mecanum-wheel M version."],["Does the RB-Y1 walk?","No. Its 6-DoF leg adjusts height and lean, but it moves on wheels."],["How much can the RB-Y1 lift?","3 kg per arm."],["Does the RB-Y1 support ROS 2?","Yes, applications are written in C++, Python and ROS 2 through Rainbow's SDK."],["Who owns Rainbow Robotics?","It has been a Samsung Electronics subsidiary since December 2024."]],"sources":[{"title":"RB-Y1 mobile humanoid product page (specifications)","publisher":"Rainbow Robotics","url":"https://rainbow-robotics.com/products/rb-y1/","date":"2026"},{"title":"Heritage story and company history","publisher":"Rainbow Robotics","url":"https://rainbow-robotics.com/company/%ED%9A%8C%EC%82%AC%EC%86%8C%EA%B0%9C/%ED%97%A4%EB%A6%AC%ED%8B%B0%EC%A7%80-%EC%8A%A4%ED%86%A0%EB%A6%AC/","date":"2026"},{"title":"rby1-sdk: official Python and C++ SDK for RB-Y1 (Apache-2.0)","publisher":"Rainbow Robotics (GitHub)","url":"https://github.com/RainbowRobotics/rby1-sdk","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/rainbow-rb-y1","inquiry_url":"https://merarobotics.com/en/start?service=purchase&robot=rainbow-rb-y1"}