DEPLOYDatabase

Deployment

K2 Bumblebee at Shanghai, China

Kepler Robotics (legally Shanghai Kepler Exploration Robot; founded 2023 in Pudong, Shanghai; CEO Hu Debo) makes the K2 Bumblebee, a fifth-generation full-size industrial humanoid notable for its proprietary planetary roller-screw linear actuators and a straight-knee hybrid gait. Verified specs include 175 cm, 75 kg, 52 degrees of freedom, 80-plus sensors, 100 TOPS of onboard compute, about 15 kg of payload per arm, and roughly eight hours of runtime, at a list price of RMB 248,000 (about $34,000).

It was shown independently at ICRA 2025, and units entered real-world testing at an SAIC-GM auto plant in Shanghai for quality checks and material-bin transport, corroborated across multiple outlets; the company is now reportedly controlled by the A-share-listed Tao Motor via acquisition. The registry records it at pilot maturity rather than commercial: Kepler's own 'world's first commercially available' and 'mass production' framing names zero end customers and quantifies demand only as framework agreements for several thousand units, which is a claim rather than booked orders.

The strongest verifiable signal is the SAIC-GM plant testing, not a commercial supply contract, so volume shipments, the unnamed framework agreements, and a secondary-blog wheel-hub deployment are recorded as claimed-but-not-verified.

K2 Bumblebee by Kepler Robotics · Operated by Kepler Robotics · Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified · Humanoids

Track K2 Bumblebee at Shanghai, China

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Machine-readable surfaces

Kepler K2 Bumblebee humanoid robots deployed at SAIC-GM's automotive manufacturing facility in Shanghai, handling transportation of 20 kg material bins in logistics operations. Deployment began from approximately September 2025, coinciding with Kepler's announcement of K2 mass production. The K2 Bumblebee is a hybrid-architecture (wheeled + arm) humanoid at 165 cm, 55 kg, designed for industrial material handling. Kepler described this as part of the first commercial wave of K2 deployments following the start of mass production.

Separate but related: an earlier testing phase at an SAIC-GM automotive plant in Shanghai was reported in April-May 2025, covering inspection and assembly support tasks. The September 2025 deployment is the confirmed commercial operational phase.

Key facts

Use case
Logistics -- transportation of 20 kg material bins
Operator
SAIC-GM (SAIC General Motors)
Deployment start
September 2025
Robot config
Kepler K2 Bumblebee (hybrid-architecture, wheeled)

Safety record

No incidents on record for K2 Bumblebee at Shanghai, China.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-07-10
Model
K2 Bumblebee
Company
Kepler Robotics
Location
China/Shanghai, China
Operator
Kepler Robotics
Status
operational
Operator type
customer deployed
First seen
2025-09-01
ID
6d0dbbcd-0863-4ca3-8788-078cabd8d066

Timeline

  1. Sep 2025
    First recorded
    K2 Bumblebee first documented operating at Shanghai, China.
  2. Jul 2026
    Current status: operational, reviewed
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

On the deployment map

K2 Bumblebee operates in Shanghai, China. Explore the full verified map:

Sources (2)

  1. World's First Commercially Available Hybrid-Architecture Humanoid Robot Moves Into Mass Production · https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/worlds-first-commercially-available-hybrid-architecture-humanoid-robot-moves-into-mass-production-kepler-marks-the-start-of-a-new-industrial-era-302568138.html · 2025-09-26
  2. China: Humanoid robot transforms into car mechanic in Shanghai factory · https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/china-kepler-humanoid-robot-shanghai-plant · 2025-09-01
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-10

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-10

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: pilot

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: humanoid

Sources by quality tier

2
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for K2 Bumblebee at Shanghai, China.

Common questions

What is the K2 Bumblebee deployment at Shanghai, China?
K2 Bumblebee, built by Kepler Robotics, is recorded as a deployment at Shanghai, China on the DEPLOY registry. Kepler Robotics operates the deployment directly.
Who operates K2 Bumblebee at Shanghai, China?
Kepler Robotics, the manufacturer of K2 Bumblebee, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the K2 Bumblebee deployment at Shanghai, China go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting September 1, 2025 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the K2 Bumblebee deployment at Shanghai, China?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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