Nova
100 000 USD
ugo, Inc. (ugo株式会社)
ugo Nova is a Japanese-made, wheeled semi-humanoid robot with dual 7-DoF arms, a 4-DoF waist, and 22 total degrees of freedom. Backed by Japan’s NEDO agency, it’s built around ugo’s “Physical AI Fabric” — a data-to-model pipeline meant to keep improving Nova’s skills over time. Currently a prototype, it’s aimed at factory kitting, part transport, and light assembly work, with mass production planned for 2027.
Skill Score
3
Specifications and details:
| Availability | Prototype |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Japan |
| Website | https://ugo.plus/ |
| Degrees of freedom, overall | 22 |
| Degrees of freedom, hands | 2 |
| Height [cm] | 162 |
| Max speed (km/h) | 3.6 |
| Strength [kg] | 10 |
| Weight [kg] | 90 |
| Runtime pr charge (hours) | 6 |
| Safe with humans | Yes |
| CPU/GPU | NVIDIA Jetson Thor |
| Ingress protection | N/A |
| Camera resolution | 1× stereo camera (head), 2× RGB cameras (one per hand) |
| Connectivity | 2× USB-A (3.2 Gen2), 2× USB-C (3.1), Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax), Wired LAN (5Gbps+) |
| Operating system | N/A |
| LLM integration | N/A |
| Latency glass to action | N/A |
| Motor tech | Electric servo actuators |
| Gear tech | N/A |
| Main structural material | N/A |
| Number of fingers | 2-finger gripping claws |
| Main market | Industrial, Manufacturing, Warehousing & Logistics |
| Color | White |
| Manufacturer | ugo, Inc. (ugo株式会社) |
Description
ugo Nova is a semi-humanoid robot built entirely in Japan by ugo, Inc. Unlike many humanoids built for demos, Nova exists to support a national push toward domestically produced general-purpose robots. Because of this, Japan’s NEDO agency and the AI Robot Association back its development directly. As a result, Nova carries real institutional weight behind it, not just startup ambition.
What makes Nova different is how ugo plans to teach it new skills over time. The company built an entire pipeline around the robot, called the ugo Physical AI Fabric. First, a data collection kit and Nova itself gather real work data from human tasks. Then, ugo’s Data Factory turns that raw data into clean, usable training sets. Meanwhile, its Model Lab develops and evaluates the AI models that control Nova’s body. Finally, an MLOps system manages that model in the field and decides when a new version is ready for real use. Therefore, Nova doesn’t just perform tasks; it also generates the data that makes future versions smarter.
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Physically, Nova targets real hands-on work rather than simple demonstrations. It has two arms, each with seven degrees of freedom, plus a two-fingered hand on each wrist. Together, its arms and waist give it 22 total degrees of freedom, letting it bend, twist, and reach in ways closer to a human worker. Its waist alone moves on four separate axes, so it can turn and lean without repositioning its whole body. A built-in lift function extends its reach even further, up to 350 millimeters. Combined with a reach of 843 millimeters per arm, this lets Nova access shelves, bins, and workstations at different heights. Underneath, a four-wheel mecanum base moves it smoothly around a factory floor, though it doesn’t walk like a fully bipedal robot.
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Right now, Nova is a working prototype, not yet a finished commercial product. ugo unveiled it in September 2026, with mass production planned to start in 2027. Meanwhile, GK Kyoto, a respected design studio, shaped its look around a concept the team calls Next Soft Precision. This name reflects what ugo wants Nova to feel like: friendly enough to work near people, but precise enough to trust with real tasks. Once mass production begins, ugo expects Nova to handle jobs like kitting and moving parts between processes. It could even help with assembly work, such as fitting parts together or driving screws. Eventually, the company hopes it can expand into more complex tasks as its underlying AI models keep improving.
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Website: ugo.plus
