Global robotics pioneer WIRobotics, led by Co-CEOs Yong-Jae Kim, Professor at KOREATECH, and Younbaek Lee, has revealed the upper body of its first general-purpose humanoid robot, ALLEX, at the Robot The Innovation Hub (RIH) at Korea University of Technology and Education’s (KOREATECH) First Campus. This unveiling marks a significant step forward in humanoid robotics, highlighting ALLEX’s human-like responsiveness and interaction capabilities.

ALLEX short for ‘ALL-EXperience’ pushes past traditional visual recognition and position control. It responds to real-world physical stimuli such as force, contact, and impact, delivering a natural, humanlike interaction experience. By bridging the gap between human motion and robotic responsiveness, ALLEX sets a new benchmark in humanoid technology, surpassing the current limitations of collaborative robots.

AI Authority Trend: NVIDIA Unveils Omniverse Libraries and Cosmos Models for Robotics

Built with WIRobotics’ proprietary mechanisms and control tech, ALLEX features a high-DOF robotic hand that can sense reaction forces like a human hand and naturally yield under external pressure. Its highly backdrivable robot arm reduces friction and rotational inertia over tenfold compared to conventional collaborative arms. Additionally, ALLEX’s upper body features a gravity compensation mechanism, enabling precise force control and flexible motion. These innovations make ALLEX suitable for applications requiring direct human interaction, from services and manufacturing to household assistance.

Technical highlights of ALLEX include:

  • High-DOF Compliant Hand: Human-sized with 15 DOF, ALLEX’s hand performs precise motions and handles diverse tasks. It detects forces as low as 100 gf without tactile sensors and achieves fingertip repeatability of 0.3 mm or less. The hand can exert 40 N of fingertip force and a 30 kg hook grip, offering world-class grasping performance among human-sized robotic hands.
  • Advanced Actuation and Control: ALLEX’s ultra-low-friction, high-load actuator pairs position control with force and stiffness management. Paired with a gravity-compensated waist, it can handle heavy loads safely while maintaining precise control.
  • Lightweight Structure with High Payload: The hand weighs only 700 g, while the shoulder-down assembly totals approximately 5 kg. ALLEX can lift over 3 kg with just one hand matching the performance of mid-size collaborative robots that weigh more than 20 kg.
  • Whole-Body Force Interaction: As the first humanoid capable of force-based responses without dedicated sensors, ALLEX supports dynamic and safe interactions, optimized for machine-learning-based training and autonomous scalability.

AI Authority Trend: DEEPX and Baidu Partner to Advance Global On-Device AI in Drones, Robotics and OCR

“ALLEX goes beyond merely replicating human movement it is the first robot that truly experiences and responds to the real world,” said Yong-Jae Kim, Co-CEO and CTO of WIRobotics. “From day one, we’ve developed technology for people. Building on the wearable robotics we introduced two years ago, our goal is to deliver by 2030 a general-purpose humanoid platform that anyone can use in everyday life. We will open a new era of general-purpose robotics where precision and flexibility coexist.”

Looking ahead, WIRobotics plans to expand ALLEX into a modular platform, providing arms, hands, and bodies individually or in combination, while conducting field demonstrations to drive commercialization across industries. The company is also fostering an open innovation ecosystem, collaborating with RLWRLD, MIT, UIUC, UMass, KIST, and Maxon, to advance ALLEX’s intelligence and accelerate global adoption.

AI Authority Trend: Doosan Robotics Accelerates Drive to Lead in AI Robot Solutions

To share your insights, please write to us at sudipto@intentamplify.com