ugo Nova Is a Semi-Humanoid Robot Built for Factory Work
ugo Nova is a semi-humanoid robot with two arms and a moving base, built to learn and perform real factory tasks.
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ugo Nova Is a Semi-Humanoid Robot Built for Factory Work
Ugo, a Japanese robotics company, built ugo
Nova as a semi-humanoid robot, meaning it has a human-like upper body with two
arms and a head, but moves on wheels instead of legs. The company describes
Nova as built to speed up the real-world use of "physical AI," taking
robots from research labs into actual industrial jobs like kitting, moving
parts between workstations, fitting components together, and tightening
screws.
A Body Built With 22 Independent Moving Parts
Engineers count a robot's flexibility in
"degrees of freedom," meaning the number of separate, independent
ways its joints can move. Ugo Nova has 22 of them in total: 2 in the head for
looking around, 7 in each arm plus a gripping hand on each side, and 4 in the
waist, on top of a 4-wheel moving base. That base uses what are called mecanum
wheels, a special wheel design that lets the robot slide sideways or spin in
place without needing to turn as a car does. Working with both arms together,
Nova can lift and carry up to 10 kilograms, and each arm can reach out 843
millimeters, close to a full meter. A built-in lifting mechanism raises and
lowers the upper body by 350 millimeters, and combined with the waist's ability
to rotate, that lets Nova pick up and place objects across a much wider area
than its arms alone could reach.
The Computer and Cameras Behind Its Movements
Nova's onboard computer is an NVIDIA Jetson
Thor, a processor specifically built to run AI models directly on a robot
rather than relying on a distant server. For vision, it uses one stereo camera
in its head, meaning two lenses working together to judge distance and depth
the way human binocular vision does, plus one camera built into each hand for
close-up work while gripping or placing something. Ugo frames Nova as part of
what it calls its Physical AI Fabric, a combined system of the robot itself, the
data it collects, and the AI models trained on that data, designed to work
together in a repeating cycle so the robot's abilities keep improving over time
rather than staying fixed at whatever it could do on day one.
Built to Work a Full Shift
Nova stands between 126 and 162 centimeters
tall, adjusting between a folded, compact height for moving around and a fully
extended height for reaching up to work. It weighs about 100 kilograms, roughly
as much as an adult human, and includes a face display built into its head for
basic interaction. A single battery charge, using a LiFePO4 battery pack,
powers about 6 hours of continuous operation, with a full recharge taking
around 2 hours and 30 minutes. On the move, Nova travels between 0.4 and 3.6 kilometers
per hour, a range spanning a slow, careful pace up to a moderate walking speed,
and it can climb gentle inclines of around 5 degrees and roll over small bumps
or ledges up to about 1 centimeter tall.
Designed With Safety as a Stated Priority
ugo states its goal is for Nova to become one
of the safest robots in the world, a design priority the company treats as
central rather than secondary to Nova's capabilities. Alongside the robot
itself, ugo offers a support package covering accidental damage from operating
mistakes or collisions, along with repair support and help running the robot
day to day. That combination reflects the reality Nova is built for: a robot
meant to work directly alongside people on a factory floor needs to be
trustworthy in how it moves and reacts, not just capable of the task itself.
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