Kepler Robotics

How Kepler Forerunner K2 works

Kepler Forerunner K2's vendor has not publicly named the models behind it, so this page sets out what is disclosed: the sensing, control and hardware, with the evidence for each part.

Kepler shows a strong-looking industrial humanoid body — height, weight and actuator strength are public — but Kepler has not publicly named the software that understands instructions, plans tasks, predicts outcomes or decides what the hands should do.

00 named models · 3 sources · updated 9 Aug 2026

Kepler Forerunner K2 humanoid robot
Image: Shanghai Kepler Robotics Co., Ltd. (supplied) / New Atlas

What Kepler Forerunner K2 uses to sense, think, move and learn

Senses

Turns cameras, audio and touch into one picture

  • Model not named

Understands

Works out what the job is

  • Model not named

Predicts

Not disclosed

  • Not disclosed

Acts

Chooses the movement and the grasp

  • Model not named

Controls

Keeps the body balanced while it works

  • Model not named

Learns

Not disclosed

  • Not disclosed

What it learns feeds back into the models before the next run.

Greyed cards are parts the vendor hasn't named a model for.

01

How the robot is built to work

Kepler shows a strong-looking industrial humanoid body — height, weight and actuator strength are public — but Kepler has not publicly named the software that understands instructions, plans tasks, predicts outcomes or decides what the hands should do.

Technical read

Public material confirms bionic structure, motion control and peak actuator torque, plus secondary reports of vision, tactile, force-torque and IMU sensing. No vendor-named LLM, task planner, VLA/action policy or world model has been identified for K2.

  • Known hardware
  • Unknown brain
  • Secondary-source heavy
12
System parts on the public record

0 confirmed as running on the robot

04
Parts with a public model name

0 supplied by a partner

03
Primary architecture sources

12 open questions left unanswered

Kepler's official page confirms selected physical specs, but the intelligence stack — language interface, task reasoner, world model, action policy, safety and learning — has no public named architecture. Many hardware details (52 DoF, hand DoF, tactile distribution) come from secondary catalogs, not the vendor, and should be read with lower confidence. This tab explains possible mechanisms; it does not change the Cyborgs rank or score.

02

How it senses, reasons and moves

Stack not publicly named

The vendor describes what each part does, but has not named the models that run it.

See and sense

It likely has cameras, touch and force sensing and a sense of its own body, but the exact hardware and how it is fused is not confirmed by the vendor in detail.

Model not named

Understand instructions

We do not know the exact system that understands a spoken or typed instruction.

Not disclosed

Stay within limits

We do not know what hard safety systems — stop behaviour, proximity limits, force limiting — K2 actually has.

Not disclosed

Run the models

The reviewed official material does not name an onboard chip or compute budget.

Not disclosed

Predict what may happen

There is no public evidence of a separate model that imagines possible futures before acting.

Not disclosed

Plan the task

There may be a planning brain that breaks a job into steps, but the public evidence for it is thin and mostly secondary.

Model not named

Decide movement

We do not know whether K2 uses a modern vision-language-action model or more traditional programmed skill controllers.

Not disclosed

Move around the workspace

It is meant to move through industrial workspaces, but the exact navigation software is not named publicly.

Model not named

Handle objects

The hand and joint hardware looks aimed at precise object handling, but that comes from catalogs rather than a vendor spec sheet.

Model not named

Control balance and body

It has the body and actuators built for humanoid walking and balance, though the detailed control software is not public.

Model not named

Physical body

The robot's joints are built for strength and precision, with a stated peak torque figure.

Model not named

Feeds back into the models

Around the stack

Named on the public record, but not part of the runtime chain above.

Improve over time

We do not know how, or whether, K2 learns from data collected across a fleet of robots.

Not disclosed

03

What sensors and hardware it has

Kepler Forerunner K2 — Yellow K2 in factory
Yellow K2 in factory · Shanghai Kepler Robotics Co., Ltd. (supplied) / New Atlas

Parts sit on the body only where the public record places them. 2 of 8 entries are still not publicly disclosed.

Vision and audio

01
  • Secondary sources list vision, tactile, force-torque and IMU sensors.

    Likely eyes, touch, force and balance sensing, but not an official sensor table.

    Reported for this robot · 1 source

    Still open: Vendor sensor sheet needed.

Body position and balance

02
  • Official page indicates 178 cm height and 85 kg weight.

    A human-scale but heavy industrial body.

    Confirmed on this robot · Across the robot · 1 source

  • Secondary catalogs list 52 degrees of freedom.

    Many controllable joints for whole-body movement, but not vendor-confirmed.

    Reported for this robot · 1 source

    Still open: Needs official confirmation.

Hands and end effectors

01
  • Secondary sources describe dexterous five-digit hands with tactile sensing; some list 11 DoF per hand.

    Hands built to feel contact, per catalogs rather than an official spec sheet.

    Reported for this robot · Hands · 2 sources

    Still open: Official hand specification is needed.

Joints and actuators

01
  • Official page gives 200 N·m peak actuator torque; secondary sources describe planetary roller screw plus rotary actuators.

    Strong, precise joints designed for industrial work.

    Confirmed on this robot · 2 sources

    Still open: Torque per individual joint is not public.

Compute and connectivity

01
  • No named chip or TOPS figure found in the reviewed official material.

    We do not know the onboard computer from official material.

    Not publicly disclosed · 1 source

Battery and runtime

01
  • Secondary sources mention long operating time; official battery capacity and runtime are unclear.

    Do not treat unverified all-shift runtime claims as fact.

    Reported for this robot · 2 sources

    Still open: Official energy specification needed.

Safety hardware

01
  • No detailed public safety hardware found beyond general industrial positioning.

    The emergency-stop, force-limiting and proximity safety package is unknown.

    Not publicly disclosed · 2 sources

04

How it does one real job

Vendor-stated scenario

Pick a metal component from a tote and place it into an inspection fixture

This walkthrough is a reasoned industrial scenario built from Kepler's public positioning and hardware claims, not a documented, repeatable public demonstration. Most steps are marked as reasoned synthesis rather than confirmed runtime behaviour, because Kepler has not published a task-level architecture or a proof video matching this exact sequence.

6 moments · uses 4 of 6 parts of the system · no model names on the public record

  • 01

    Receive the task

    A work order or operator instruction specifies which part to pick and where it goes.

    Technical detail

    A work-order system or operator gives a pick-and-place task; public planner details are not disclosed.

    The task planner itself is not public.

    • Senses
    • Understands
    • Predicts
    • Acts
    • Controls
    • Learns

    Cyborgs interpretation · 2 sources

  • 02

    Locate the tote and fixture

    It identifies the tote, the fixture and a safe approach path.

    Technical detail

    Vision/localization identifies the tote, fixture and safe approach path.

    • Senses
    • Understands
    • Predicts
    • Acts
    • Controls
    • Learns

    Cyborgs interpretation · 1 source

  • 03

    Approach the workstation

    It walks to the station while keeping its balance.

    Technical detail

    The locomotion controller walks to the station while maintaining balance.

    • Senses
    • Understands
    • Predicts
    • Acts
    • Controls
    • Learns

    Cyborgs interpretation · 1 source

  • 04

    Grip the component

    The hand closes around the part, using contact feedback to avoid dropping or crushing it.

    Technical detail

    Perception estimates component pose; the hand closes on the part and tactile/force feedback reduces slip or excessive force once contact occurs.

    Official tactile-grasping proof is needed; this relies on secondary hand specifications.

    • Senses
    • Understands
    • Predicts
    • Acts
    • Controls
    • Learns

    Reported for this robot · 2 sources

  • 05

    Place the part in the fixture

    The arm and hand follow a controlled path to insert or position the part.

    Technical detail

    The arm/hand follows a controlled placement path to insert or position the part.

    • Senses
    • Understands
    • Predicts
    • Acts
    • Controls
    • Learns

    Cyborgs interpretation · 1 source

  • 06

    Recover or ask for help if something goes wrong

    If the part slips or alignment fails, what the robot does next is not publicly documented.

    Technical detail

    If part slips or alignment fails, public recovery behaviour is unknown.

    This is called out in the workbook as a critical evidence gap, not an assumption to fill in.

    • Senses
    • Understands
    • Predicts
    • Acts
    • Controls
    • Learns

    Not publicly disclosed · 1 source

Parts are lit where the vendor's own description puts them to work. Unlit parts still run on the robot; they are simply not what this job turns on.

05

How it learns and improves

4 of 4 stations on the public record · no named training models

  1. 01

    The robot works

    Runs the parts of the system that later receive updates (1)

  2. 02

    Experience is captured

    Robot data

  3. 03

    Improve over time

    Not publicly disclosed

  4. 04

    Updates go back on the robot

    Model updates

Station 04 returns to station 01 — the loop repeats.

We do not know how, or whether, K2 learns from data collected across a fleet of robots.

Technical detail

No public fleet or data-learning loop was found for K2 comparable to disclosures from 1X, Figure or AgiBot.

Not publicly disclosed

Needs vendor disclosure.

What the updates land on

  • Decide movementActs

06

What the vendor has shared

04
Vendor-confirmed

Confirmed on this robot

07
Reported or contested

Reported for this robot

01
Context and interpretation

Cyborgs interpretation

08
The record is silent

Not publicly disclosed

A map of the public record, not a verdict. A silent line means the vendor has not said — it never moves the ranking.

What each band means
  • Vendor-confirmed

    The vendor publicly describes this for the exact robot named on this page.

  • Reported or contested

    A secondary source reports this for the exact robot; the vendor has not stated it directly.

  • Context and interpretation

    A Cyborgs reading of the public record, not a vendor statement.

  • The record is silent

    The public record does not say. We leave it visible as unknown.

Still open · 05

Where is Kepler's AI model disclosure?

No named vision-language-action model, task reasoner or world model has been found for K2 in the reviewed sources.

Why it matters

K2's hardware looks strong, but a humanoid's usefulness depends heavily on the reasoning, action and safety software running on top of it.

Not publicly disclosed

Which specs are official versus catalog-sourced?

Many detailed K2 specs, including 52 DoF and hand tactile distribution, come from secondary catalogs rather than the official Kepler page.

Why it matters

Mixing vendor-confirmed facts with unverified secondary-catalog numbers risks overstating what is actually known about K2.

Reported for this robot

What real-world tasks has K2 repeated publicly?

Kepler describes industrial/logistics positioning, but repeatable public task evidence needs separate collection and has not been established here.

Why it matters

Industrial positioning is not the same as demonstrated, repeatable task performance.

Vendor-stated, pre-production

What is the onboard compute and power budget?

No chip name or TOPS figure was found in the reviewed official material.

Why it matters

Compute constrains what models, if any, can realistically run onboard versus in the cloud.

Not publicly disclosed

What safety systems does K2 actually have?

No detailed public safety architecture was found beyond general industrial positioning.

Why it matters

Working near people or in shared industrial space requires demonstrated, not assumed, safety behaviour.

Not publicly disclosed

07

Technical details

The record

Every row is the public position. Undisclosed rows stay in the list.

04 of 05 rows have a public answer

08

Sources

The ranking measures demonstrated capability. This page explains the public system behind it. The system description does not affect the score.

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