# SmolVLA: robot foundation model

[Hugging Face](/companies/hugging-face.md)'s compact 450M parameter VLA model for accessible robotics. Part of the LeRobot framework, designed for low-compute training and deployment on consumer hardware.

- **Slug:** smolvla
- **Type:** Foundation model
- **Maturity (DEPLOY ladder):** Research
- **Open source:** yes

## Architecture

Compact VLA, 450M params


## Developed by (1)

- [Hugging Face](/companies/hugging-face.md)


## Common questions

### What is SmolVLA?

Hugging Face's compact 450M parameter VLA model for accessible robotics. Part of the LeRobot framework, designed for low-compute training and deployment on consumer hardware.

### Who developed SmolVLA?

SmolVLA is credited to Hugging Face on the DEPLOY registry. Each developer attribution is verified via primary sources.

### Is SmolVLA open source?

Yes. SmolVLA is recorded as open-source / open-weights on the DEPLOY registry, meaning model weights or source code are publicly available.

### What type of AI is SmolVLA?

SmolVLA is a foundation model, built on a Compact VLA, 450M params architecture on the DEPLOY registry.

### What is SmolVLA's maturity stage?

SmolVLA is at the research stage on the DEPLOY maturity ladder. Research stage means active development without commercial deployments on file.

### Which robots run on SmolVLA?

No robot models on the DEPLOY registry are recorded as running SmolVLA. DEPLOY wires brain-to-model connections only when the wiring is verifiable from primary sources; absence may reflect pre-deployment or unverified manufacturer claims.


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