Cartwheel Robotics Yogi

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.

History and launch

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.

Design and technology

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.

Software and AI

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.

Applications and deployments

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.

Manufacturer

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.

Price and availability

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)

Sources

1. Inventor who encouraged Elon Musk to make Optimus says most humanoid robots today are 'terrifying', The Register (2025-09-13)
2. Upcoming 'Yogi' humanoid robot to focus on human connections, Interesting Engineering (2025-10-17)
3. Cartwheel Robotics company page and founder posts, LinkedIn (2026)

Updated: 2026-10-10

Compared with the catalogue

• It is the only Cartwheel Robotics model in the catalogue and one of 43 humanoids from USA.

Capabilities