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Are there any fully autonomous robots?

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Yes, and the robots you would name first are mostly not among them. DEPLOY classifies a substantial set of machines as autonomous, spanning robotaxis and trucks, drones, agricultural and cleaning robots, surface vessels and spacecraft. The useful part of the answer is the contrast: several of the best-known robots are classified supervised, teleoperated or mixed instead, and most of the registry's models carry no autonomy classification at all. This page reports all three groups rather than only the flattering one.

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Yes, and the honest answer has three parts that a marketing page would collapse into one.

What DEPLOY classifies as autonomous. A substantial set of machines across many form factors, from robotaxis and freight trucks to agricultural robots, cleaning machines, surface vessels and spacecraft. These are classified as operating without a person in the loop during the task. Within that group the page separates what is commercial or in production from what is still in pilots and what is still a research machine, because a lab robot and a shipping product are different answers to the same question.

What DEPLOY classifies otherwise. Several of the robots most people would name first are not in the autonomous group. The record classifies them as supervised, teleoperated or mixed, meaning a person is in the loop by remote supervision, direct teleoperation, or shared control that varies by task. That distinction is the single most useful thing on this page, because remote supervision is routinely described as autonomy.

Where the record is silent. Most models on the registry carry no autonomy classification at all. That is a gap in DEPLOY's record, not a finding that those machines are not autonomous, and the page states the number rather than quietly excluding them from the denominator.

One attribution point matters. For most classified models the record holds no quoted statement from the maker, so the classification is DEPLOY's own reading of the machine rather than a claim the manufacturer made. Where the maker's own words are on the record, they are shown alongside, and where only a spec sheet speaks, its exact wording is quoted and never promoted into the verified group.

What the record holds

Counted from the registry rather than asserted, across 1217 published models.

Classified autonomous
115
Human in the loop
19
Spec sheet only
27
No classification
1056

The autonomous group covers 30 kinds of machine from 107 makers. Only 10 of the 134 classified models carry a quoted autonomy statement from the maker on the record, so for the rest the classification is DEPLOY’s own reading rather than something the manufacturer said. 1056 models carry no autonomy classification at all, which is a gap in the record and not a finding that those machines are not autonomous.

Three different claims, kept apart

Each column is attributed to what it actually describes. The third is the claim DEPLOY refuses to make.

What DEPLOY classifies

No person in the loop during the task

A model classified autonomous is recorded as performing its task without a human operator in the loop. The classification is read live from the registry at page load, and it spans every form factor rather than one category.

What the record keeps apart

Supervised and teleoperated are not autonomous

A machine that drives or flies itself under remote human supervision is classified supervised. One a person operates directly is teleoperated. One whose autonomy varies by task is mixed. Remote supervision is routinely described as autonomy, and keeping these apart is the most useful thing this page does.

What DEPLOY will not claim

That a classification is a guarantee

The classification records how a machine is built to operate, not that every unit runs autonomously in every condition. A robotaxi classified autonomous can still disengage. DEPLOY does not track per-mile disengagement rates, and a model absent from the record is not a finding that it is not autonomous.

How far along the autonomous ones are

A research machine and a shipping product are different answers to the same question, so the autonomous group is split by each model’s own recorded stage rather than filtered down to the flattering end of it.

Models classified autonomous, by recorded maturity stage
Stage on the recordModels
Commercial or in production48
In pilots20
Research stage47

Classified autonomous

Recorded as operating without a person in the loop during the task. Where the record holds the maker’s own words, they are quoted on the row.

Models DEPLOY classifies as autonomous
  • A2I2: Underwater

    Maker on the record: Forth Engineering. Research stage. The record holds no autonomy statement from the maker, so this classification is DEPLOY's own.

    Classified autonomous
    Research stage
  • Maker on the record: AgiBot. Research stage. The record holds no autonomy statement from the maker, so this classification is DEPLOY's own.

    Classified autonomous
    Research stage
  • Aletta: Service

    Maker on the record: Vitestro. Research stage. The record holds no autonomy statement from the maker, so this classification is DEPLOY's own.

    Classified autonomous
    Research stage

Classified with a human in the loop

The contrast that matters. These are recorded as supervised, teleoperated or mixed, and several of them are among the best-known robots in the world. Remote supervision is not autonomy, and the record keeps them apart.

Models DEPLOY classifies as supervised, teleoperated or mixed
  • Brokk 170: Construction

    Maker on the record: Brokk. Commercial or in production. The record holds no autonomy statement from the maker, so this classification is DEPLOY's own.

    Classified teleoperated, human drives it
    Commercial or in production
  • da Vinci (and Ion): Surgical

    Maker on the record: Intuitive Surgical. Commercial or in production. The record holds no autonomy statement from the maker, so this classification is DEPLOY's own.

    Classified teleoperated, human drives it
    Commercial or in production
  • Delivers AI robot (YEBO): Sidewalk delivery

    Maker on the record: Delivers AI. In pilots. The record holds no autonomy statement from the maker, so this classification is DEPLOY's own.

    Classified supervised, human in the loop
    In pilots

Where only the spec sheet speaks

27 models carry an autonomy line on their spec sheet but no DEPLOY classification. None is promoted into the group above: the wording is quoted exactly, and some of these strings describe a person in the loop rather than full autonomy.

Models with a spec-sheet autonomy line and no DEPLOY classification
RobotThe maker’s wordingHow DEPLOY reads it
AgBot T2 7 SeriesAgXeedfully autonomousSpec sheet claims full autonomy
Amiga FlexBonsai RoboticsCamera-only autonomy without GPS dependencySpec sheet claims full autonomy
Apollo RT6Baidufully-driverlessSpec sheet claims full autonomy
Autonom Shuttle EvoNavyaSAE Level 4Spec sheet claims full autonomy
Bear Flag autonomous tractor retrofitBear Flag RoboticsdriverlessSpec sheet claims full autonomy
BurroBurroPop-Up Autonomy, vision-first, no required GPS/infrastructure; RTK-GPS and lidar optionalSpec-sheet wording does not state an autonomy level
Carbon AutoTractorCarbon Roboticsremotely monitored with real-time operator interventionsSpec sheet describes a human in the loop
Cruise AV (Chevrolet Bolt)Cruisedriverless (no human safety driver)Spec sheet claims full autonomy
DairyRobot R9500GEA GroupautomaticSpec-sheet wording does not state an autonomy level
Didi RobotaxiDidi Autonomous DrivingLevel 4Spec sheet claims full autonomy
ElementAigenautonomousSpec sheet claims full autonomy
EZ10EasyMileSAE L4Spec sheet claims full autonomy
FD20FarmDroidautonomousSpec sheet claims full autonomy
Gatik Autonomous DriveGatikLevel 4Spec sheet claims full autonomy
GUSS Autonomous Orchard SprayerGUSS Automationup to 8 per operatorSpec sheet describes a human in the loop
HOLON moverHolonL4 (Mobileye Drive)Spec sheet claims full autonomy
KAGO 5YOGO RobotL4 indoorSpec sheet claims full autonomy
M.52Scythe Roboticsself-drivingSpec sheet claims full autonomy
MK-VMonarch TractorDriver-optionalSpec sheet describes a human in the loop
Mobileye DriveMobileyeLevel 4Spec sheet claims full autonomy
Naio weeding robots (Ted / Oz / Orio)Naio TechnologiesautonomousSpec sheet claims full autonomy
OzNaio TechnologiesautonomousSpec sheet claims full autonomy
PlusDrivePlusSAE Level 2+ ADAS with scalable path to Level 4Spec sheet describes a human in the loop
Pony Gen-7 RobotaxiPony AIfully-driverlessSpec sheet claims full autonomy
Robotaxi GXRWeRidefully-driverlessSpec sheet claims full autonomy
TedNaio TechnologiesautonomousSpec sheet claims full autonomy
ThorvaldSaga RoboticsautonomousSpec sheet claims full autonomy
How we know this

Every robot on this page is a model record on the DEPLOY registry, read live at page load. The autonomy grouping comes from each model's own recorded classification rather than from editorial judgement, and the maturity split comes from each model's own recorded stage. Here are the sources behind the classifications the record attributes to a maker statement.

Most classified models carry no quoted statement from their maker, so for those the classification is DEPLOY's own reading and the page attributes it to DEPLOY rather than to the manufacturer. Where only a spec sheet speaks, its exact wording is quoted and never promoted into the verified group: several of those strings describe a human in the loop.

Common questions

What robots are actually fully autonomous?
On DEPLOY's record, the models classified autonomous span robotaxis and freight trucks, delivery and agricultural robots, cleaning and lawn machines, surface vessels and spacecraft. The page lists them with each model's maker, type and maturity stage. The classification means the machine is recorded as operating without a person in the loop during its task; it is not a guarantee about every unit in every condition.
Is Tesla Optimus autonomous?
Not on DEPLOY's record. Optimus is classified mixed, meaning autonomy varies by task rather than covering the whole job. Several other well-known humanoids are classified supervised or teleoperated. This page shows that group in full, because the gap between how these machines are marketed and how the record classifies them is the most useful part of the answer.
Does autonomous mean no human is involved at all?
No. It means no person is in the loop during the task the machine performs. Humans still build, deploy, maintain, dispatch and recover these robots, and a machine classified autonomous can still disengage or need help in edge cases. DEPLOY does not track per-mile disengagement rates, and this page does not claim a machine never needs a person.
How many robots are fully autonomous?
The page reports the count of models DEPLOY classifies as autonomous, which is a count of models on the registry rather than a count of machines in the world or a market estimate. It also reports how many models carry no classification at all, which is much the larger number, so the denominator is visible rather than hidden.
Who says these robots are autonomous, the maker or DEPLOY?
Mostly DEPLOY. Only a small minority of classified models carry a quoted autonomy statement from the maker on the record; for the rest the classification is DEPLOY's own reading, and the page says so rather than implying the manufacturer made the claim. Separately, some unclassified models carry an autonomy line on their spec sheet. Those are shown with the maker's exact wording, never promoted into the verified group, because several of those strings actually describe a human in the loop.
Are self-driving cars fully autonomous robots?
Some are, on the record. Driverless robotaxis and freight trucks appear in the autonomous group here. The SAE level taxonomy those vehicles are written against is a separate question with its own page, and legality is separate again: a vehicle can be classified autonomous and still be permitted only in specific jurisdictions.

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