Romeo

Overview

The Aldebaran Romeo is a large research humanoid standing 1,467 mm with 37 degrees of freedom, priced at $250,000. Co-developed with French research institutions, Romeo was designed to assist elderly people and study human-robot interaction in domestic environments. The platform is now considered a research-grade system rather than an active commercial product, with Aldebaran having shifted strategic focus following its acquisition by United Robotics Group.

Key Specifications

Romeo stands 1,467 mm tall and features 37 DoF, providing a rich range of motion for research studies. It is priced at $250,000. The platform was designed with cameras, microphones, and force sensors to support perception and interaction research. Romeo uses Naoqi OS, the same software platform as Aldebaran's NAO and Pepper robots, enabling code portability across platforms.

Use Cases

Academic research into human-robot interaction, assistive robotics, and domestic task performance are the primary uses for Romeo. Given its research positioning and age, Romeo is most relevant to institutions studying humanoid kinematics, social robotics, or assistive AI, rather than to commercial deployers. French research labs including INRIA have used Romeo extensively in published studies.

Buying Used

At $250,000 new, Romeo units occasionally appear through university equipment sales and research programme closures. Used units can offer significant savings, but buyers must account for age-related actuator wear, battery degradation, and the reduced likelihood of firmware updates for a platform that is no longer in active commercial development. Support from Aldebaran or United Robotics Group for ageing Romeo units is limited.

Alternatives to Consider

Research institutions evaluating humanoid platforms today will find more actively developed options including the Pollen Robotics Reachy 2 at $70,000, which offers open-source software support. For larger platforms with active development, the PAL Robotics TALOS is a direct research humanoid alternative with stronger ongoing European support.