Meka Robotics is unveiling this week itsMeka M1 Mobile Manipulator, a humanoid system equipped with twodexterous arms, a head withMicrosoft Kinect sensor, and anomnidirectional wheel base. The robot runs Meka's real-time control software withROS extensions.

Meka, a San Francisco-based start-up founded byMIT roboticists, says the M1 is designed to work in human environments and combines "mobility, dexterity, and compliant force-control." It seems Meka is targeting first research applications, whereas other companies developing similarmanipulators -- likepi4 robotics inGermany andRodney Brooks'Heartland Robotics -- are focusing on industrial uses.

 

The M1-Standard [image, right] comes with a preconfigured set of manipulators: Meka's compliant manipulators with 6 axis force-torque sensors at the wrist and compliantgrippers. The pan-tilt head comes with aKinect 3D camera and 5 megapixelEthernet camera. And the base is a  small-footprint omni platform with prismatic lift.

The robot's computer runs the Meka M3 andROS software stacks. Meka says they're "pushing on deeper ROS integration" and expect upcoming versions of their M3 control software to "integrate many of the great packages that the ROS community is generating."

It looks like an amazing robot, but it doesn't come cheap. The M1-Standard is priced at US $340,000.

The M1-Custom [image, top], as the name suggests, allows customers to choose different sensors, hands, and head to build the robot they want (pricetag will vary accordingly). Meka says the first M1-Custom, seen in the video below, shipped last month.

 

Meka has been working on all the robotssubsystems andROS integration for some time. Inspiration for the M1, the company says, came in part from another robot, Georgia Tech'sCody, which uses Meka arms. With the M1, Meka has finally combined all the subsystems into a single, integrated robot.

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 Images and video: MekaRobotics

[Meka Robotics ]