DOBOT Robotics
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Last reviewed
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| DOBOT Robotics | |
|---|---|
| Company overview | |
| Full name | Shenzhen Dobot Corp Ltd (深圳市越疆科技股份有限公司) |
| Founded | June 2015 |
| Founders | Liu Peichao (Jerry Liu), Lang Xulin |
| Headquarters | Shenzhen, Guangdong, China |
| CEO | Liu Peichao |
| Employees | ~628 (2025) |
| Stock exchange | Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2432.HK) |
| IPO date | December 23, 2024 |
| Revenue | CN¥286.75 million (FY 2023) |
| Market cap | ~$2.4 billion (2025) |
| Robots shipped | 100,000+ |
| Website | dobot-robots.com |
DOBOT Robotics (formally Shenzhen Dobot Corp Ltd) is a Chinese robotics company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, that designs, manufactures, and sells collaborative robots (cobots), desktop robotic arms, humanoid robots, and quadruped robots. Founded in June 2015 by Liu Peichao (also known as Jerry Liu) and Lang Xulin, DOBOT rose to prominence through a highly successful Kickstarter campaign for its first desktop robotic arm and has since grown into one of the world's largest collaborative robot manufacturers. The company ranks first among cobot exporters in China and holds approximately 13% of the global cobot market, making it the second-largest cobot company worldwide. DOBOT listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 23, 2024, raising HK$681 million (approximately US$87.6 million) in its initial public offering.
As of 2026, DOBOT offers eight main product lines spanning desktop arms, SCARA robots, six-axis industrial cobots, ultra-compact commercial cobots, educational platforms, humanoid robots, and quadruped robots. The company has shipped over 100,000 robots to customers in more than 100 countries and regions, serving more than 80 Fortune Global 500 companies including Foxconn, BYD, and Toyota. DOBOT operates global offices in Shenzhen, Dallas (United States), Germany, Nagoya (Japan), and Bangkok (Thailand), supported by an extensive distributor network.
DOBOT was co-founded by Liu Peichao and six of his university classmates in robotics engineering on June 30, 2015, in Shenzhen. Liu Peichao, a graduate of Shandong University, served as the company's chief executive from the start and remains in that role. Other key team members were drawn from institutions including Harbin Institute of Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and MIT.
In October 2015, just four months after incorporation, DOBOT launched a Kickstarter campaign for a lightweight desktop robotic arm. The campaign set an initial funding goal of $36,000 but dramatically exceeded expectations, raising over $636,000, more than 17 times the target. The campaign attracted backers from around the world and demonstrated strong consumer interest in affordable, programmable desktop robotic arms for education and personal use.
The Kickstarter success attracted an additional $3 million in third-round venture funding in April 2016, positioning DOBOT as one of the most valuable robotics startups in China at the time. Early investors included PreAngel Fund and Zhuoyuan Capital.
In August 2016, DOBOT released the Magician, which the company described as the world's first desktop-grade, high-precision, multifunctional robotic arm. The Magician could perform precision writing, laser engraving, 3D printing, and pick-and-place tasks, all with 0.2 mm positioning repeatability. In November 2016, DOBOT launched the M1, described as the world's first SCARA collaborative robot.
A pivotal moment for the company's public profile came in 2017 when a calligraphy performance by the Dobot Magician was featured on the CCTV New Year's Gala broadcast, one of the most-watched television programs in the world. The demonstration drew enormous public attention in China and established DOBOT's reputation for precision and showmanship. The Magician was subsequently awarded a CES 2018 Innovation Award in November 2017.
By March 2017, DOBOT had expanded to 96 employees.
Following the success of its desktop arms, DOBOT expanded into larger industrial collaborative robots. In December 2020, the company introduced the CR3, CR10, and CR16 cobots, establishing a product range spanning payloads from 0.5 kg to 16 kg. DOBOT claimed this breadth of payload coverage was unique in the collaborative robot industry at the time.
The CR Series became DOBOT's flagship industrial product line, earning ISO 13849-1, ISO 10218-1, and ISO/TS 15066 safety certifications. The robots featured 22 built-in safety functions and five adjustable levels of collision detection, making them suitable for direct human-robot collaboration in manufacturing environments.
In 2022, DOBOT expanded the CR Series further with the launch of the CR10 at Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs.
At Automate 2023, DOBOT unveiled the CRA Series, a next-generation cobot line with seven models covering payloads from 3 kg to 20 kg and working radii from 620 to 1,700 mm. The CRA Series introduced high-performance integrated joints that increased cycle time by 25% and boosted joint speeds to 223 degrees per second, which DOBOT claimed was the highest in the industry.
Alongside the CRA launch, DOBOT introduced SafeSkin, an industry-first contactless pre-collision safety technology. SafeSkin uses proprietary sensing to detect obstacles within 5 to 15 cm of the robot arm and halts motion in 10 milliseconds before any contact occurs. While conventional cobots must reduce speeds to approximately 0.25 m/s in shared workspaces to ensure safety, SafeSkin allows operation at speeds up to 1 m/s, increasing productivity by up to four times while maintaining worker safety.
Also in 2023, DOBOT launched the Magician E6, an industrial-grade desktop 6-axis cobot designed specifically for classroom deployment. The E6's compact footprint, smaller than half a sheet of A4 paper, made it practical for use on standard school desks.
On December 23, 2024, DOBOT completed its initial public offering on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code 2432.HK. The company issued 44.2 million shares at an offer price of HK$18.80 per share, raising approximately HK$681 million (US$87.6 million). The IPO made DOBOT the first Chinese collaborative robot manufacturer to achieve a public listing on the HKEX, earning it the informal title of Hong Kong's "collaborative robotics stock."
At the time of the IPO, Liu Peichao held 26.62% equity in the company. China Internet Investment Fund was also listed among the company's institutional investors.
In fiscal year 2023, DOBOT reported revenue of CN¥286.75 million and a net loss of CN¥103.28 million, reflecting heavy investment in research and development, including its humanoid robot program. International sales accounted for 59.1% of total revenue in 2023. In the first half of 2024, revenue reached CN¥121 million, up 9.6% year-over-year.
The company's stock price surged more than 170% during 2025, driven largely by investor excitement over the Atom humanoid robot announcement.
DOBOT unveiled the DOBOT Atom, its first full-size bipedal humanoid robot, in March 2025. The announcement coincided with DOBOT joining NVIDIA's Physics AI global partner ecosystem, signaling a strategic pivot from desktop and industrial collaborative arms toward full-size embodied AI platforms. When preorders for the Atom opened at a price of approximately $27,500 (199,000 yuan), DOBOT's Hong Kong-listed shares surged nearly 28% in a single trading session.
DOBOT began global mass deliveries of the Atom at a launch conference in Nagoya, Japan, on June 27, 2025, in partnership with Japanese system integrator ASKA Corporation. By February 2026, the company had initiated its third batch of mass production and delivery.
In November 2025, DOBOT launched the Rover X1, the company's first quadruped robot dog, priced at approximately $1,050 (7,499 yuan). The Rover X1 was designed for household use, featuring a hybrid wheel-leg design, dual-vision omnidirectional tracking, and a payload capacity of 3 to 7 kg.
In July 2025, DOBOT unveiled the Hexplorer, a six-legged biomimetic hexapod robot designed for rugged terrain applications including emergency response, infrastructure inspection, and energy site maintenance. The Hexplorer can carry up to five times its own weight and handle inclines up to 40 degrees. With the Hexplorer's launch, DOBOT became the world's first company to offer an embodied AI platform integrating robotic arms, humanoid robots, quadruped robots, and hexapod robots.
As of 2026, DOBOT's product portfolio spans eight main collaborative robot lines, a humanoid robot family, and mobile robotic platforms.
| Product | Type | DOF | Payload | Reach | Key features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magician | Desktop arm | 4 | 500 g | N/A | 3D printing, laser engraving, writing, drawing; 0.2 mm repeatability; Kickstarter origin |
| Magician Lite | Desktop arm | 4 | N/A | N/A | Lightweight (2.4 kg); portable; quick-build design |
| Magician E6 | Desktop cobot | 6 | N/A | 450 mm | Industrial-grade 6-axis; compact footprint; drag-to-teach; Python, C, C#, Scratch support |
| MG400 | Desktop cobot | 4 | 750 g | 440 mm | Footprint smaller than A4 paper; hand guidance; collision detection |
The Magician is DOBOT's original and most widely recognized product, launched in 2016. It offers seven control methods (EEG, Bluetooth, WiFi, mobile, PC, gesture, and joystick) and supports DobotBlockly graphical programming, making it accessible to students with no coding experience. The Magician has been adopted in K-12 schools, universities, and vocational training programs across more than 100 countries.
The Magician E6, launched in 2023, bridges the gap between educational and industrial cobots. It features proprietary trajectory replay technology for no-code drag-to-teach programming and supports advanced programming languages including Python, C, C#, and Kotlin, alongside Scratch-type block programming.
The MG400 is an ultra-compact desktop cobot weighing only a few kilograms, designed for small-footprint automation tasks in laboratories, retail environments, and light manufacturing.
| Product | Type | DOF | Payload | Reach | Repeatability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 Pro | SCARA | 4 | 1.5 kg | 400 mm | +/- 0.02 mm |
The M1 Pro is DOBOT's second-generation intelligent SCARA robot, featuring a built-in dynamic algorithm and intelligent collision detection. It supports DobotStudio, Modbus, TCP/IP, Ethernet/IP, and ROS, and reaches a maximum TCP speed of 2 m/s with joint speeds up to 1,000 degrees per second.
| Model | Payload | Reach | Repeatability | Max speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CR3 | 3 kg | 620 mm | +/- 0.02 mm | 4 m/s |
| CR5 | 5 kg | 900 mm | +/- 0.02 mm | 4 m/s |
| CR7 | 7 kg | N/A | +/- 0.02 mm | 4 m/s |
| CR10 | 10 kg | 1,525 mm | +/- 0.02 mm | 4 m/s |
| CR12 | 12 kg | N/A | +/- 0.02 mm | 4 m/s |
| CR16 | 16 kg | 1,223 mm | +/- 0.02 mm | 4 m/s |
The CR Series is DOBOT's core industrial cobot line, first introduced in December 2020. All CR models feature 22 built-in safety functions, five adjustable levels of collision detection, and certifications under ISO 13849-1, ISO 10218-1, and ISO/TS 15066. They are deployed across automotive, consumer electronics, semiconductor, healthcare, chemical, and retail industries.
| Model | Payload | Working radius | Key improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRA-3 | 3 kg | 620 mm | SafeSkin compatible |
| CRA-5 | 5 kg | N/A | SafeSkin compatible |
| CRA-7 | 7 kg | N/A | 25% faster cycle time |
| CRA-10 | 10 kg | N/A | SafeSkin compatible |
| CRA-12 | 12 kg | N/A | 223 deg/s joint speed |
| CRA-16 | 16 kg | N/A | PLd Cat.3 safety controller |
| CRA-20 | 20 kg | 1,700 mm | Largest payload in lineup |
Launched in 2023, the CRA Series represents DOBOT's next-generation cobot platform. Key advances over the CR Series include a 25% improvement in cycle time, industry-leading joint speeds of 223 degrees per second, a stand-alone PLd Cat.3 rated safety controller with 20+ safety functions, and electromagnetic brakes that engage in 18 milliseconds during power outages to restrict arm drops to less than 1 mm. The CRA-3, CRA-5, and CRA-10 models are compatible with DOBOT's SafeSkin pre-collision detection system.
A specialized CRA-IP68 variant was also released for harsh-environment industrial applications.
| Model | Payload | Reach | Weight | Repeatability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nova 2 | 2 kg | 625 mm | ~10 kg | +/- 0.05 mm |
| Nova 5 | 5 kg | 850 mm | 14 kg | +/- 0.05 mm |
The Nova Series targets commercial and light industrial environments where space is limited. Nova cobots are 33% to 44% lighter and 20% smaller than their CR Series counterparts, with a sub-one-square-meter footprint. They feature intelligent sensors with five adjustable protection levels and can execute an emergency stop in 0.01 seconds upon collision detection. The Nova Series requires no coding knowledge to operate, supporting replaying user-guided trajectories and graphical programming interfaces.
| Variant | DOF | Height | Weight | Target use | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOBOT Atom | 41 | 153 cm | ~62 kg | Factory automation, service | ~$27,500 |
| DOBOT Atom Max | 41 | 165 cm | ~62 kg | Research, advanced R&D | ~$129,000 |
| Atom Trainer | 29 | 165 cm | ~62 kg | AI training, education | ~$75,000 |
| Atom D | 16 | 65 cm | ~20 kg | Data collection, algorithms | ~$36,500 |
The DOBOT Atom is DOBOT's full-size humanoid robot, unveiled in March 2025. It features 28 upper-body degrees of freedom, sub-millimeter positioning accuracy of +/- 0.05 mm (inherited from the company's cobot expertise), and an energy-efficient straight-knee walking gait that DOBOT claims reduces power consumption by 42% compared to bent-knee walking. The Atom is powered by the proprietary Robot Operator Model-1 (ROM-1), a 100-million-parameter foundation model for autonomous task decomposition and execution.
The DOBOT Atom Max is the flagship research variant, adding VR/MR teleoperation with markerless tracking, 3D LiDAR, an Intel Core i9 processor with a dedicated 16 GB GDDR6 GPU, and 1,500 TOPS of AI processing power.
All Atom variants share the same 7-DOF arm design and +/- 0.05 mm positioning accuracy, allowing manipulation skills trained on the desktop Atom D to transfer directly to full-body models.
| Product | Type | Max speed | Payload | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rover X1 | Quadruped (wheel-leg hybrid) | 1.8 m/s | 3-7 kg | ~$1,050 |
| Hexplorer | Hexapod (six-legged) | 1.8 m/s | 10-15 kg | N/A |
The Rover X1, launched in November 2025, is DOBOT's first quadruped robot dog, featuring a dual-vision system for omnidirectional tracking and an all-terrain wheel-leg hybrid structure. It targets household applications including outdoor filming, home security patrol, coding education, and companionship.
The Hexplorer, unveiled in July 2025, is a six-legged biomimetic robot that can carry up to five times its own weight and traverse inclines up to 40 degrees. Its hexapod design ensures three legs are always in ground contact, providing superior stability on loose gravel, steep slopes, and irregular terrain. Target applications include search and rescue, infrastructure inspection, and energy site maintenance.
SafeSkin is DOBOT's proprietary contactless pre-collision safety technology, first introduced alongside the CRA Series in 2023. The system uses capacitive sensing to detect obstacles (including the human body, metals, and liquids) within 5 to 15 cm of the robot arm and triggers an emergency stop in 10 milliseconds, before any physical contact occurs. Once the obstacle is removed, the robot automatically resumes its programmed path without requiring a manual restart.
SafeSkin addresses a fundamental trade-off in collaborative robotics: traditional cobots must slow to approximately 0.25 m/s in shared workspaces to ensure safe stopping distances after contact, but SafeSkin's pre-contact detection allows operation at up to 1 m/s. This quadruples throughput in human-robot shared workspaces without compromising safety. SafeSkin is compatible with the CRA-3, CRA-5, and CRA-10 cobot models.
The Neuro-Driven Dexterity System controls the Atom humanoid's 28 upper-body degrees of freedom through a Transformer-based neural architecture. It integrates binocular RGB vision with servo-level vibration suppression and 200 Hz high-frequency control loops. The system is inspired by the co-evolution of the human brain and hand, enabling smooth, human-like fine motor skills for tool use, component handling, and precision assembly.
The Anthropomorphic Walking System governs bipedal locomotion in the Atom humanoid family. Unlike many humanoid robots that walk with permanently bent knees, the AWS uses a straight-knee gait trained through deep imitation learning and reinforcement learning on thousands of recorded human walking motions. DOBOT claims this biomechanically inspired approach reduces energy consumption by 42% compared to bent-knee walking.
ROM-1 is DOBOT's proprietary foundation model for robotic task execution. The model contains 100 million parameters and operates at a 24 Hz end-to-end control frequency, processing sensory input and generating motor commands in a continuous perception-decision-execution loop. ROM-1 combines base models with vertical industry-specific models, trained through imitation learning and reinforcement learning, and can autonomously decompose complex tasks and make real-time decisions in unstructured environments.
DOBOT-VLA is a vision-language-action model that extends the Atom's capabilities beyond preprogrammed tasks. It enables the robot to interpret natural language voice commands and react to uncertainties in real-world environments. In a notable deployment at the K11 Art House cinema in Shenzhen, the DOBOT-VLA model allowed an Atom unit to operate fully autonomously for up to 14 hours per day, producing and selling over 1,000 cups of popcorn without human assistance.
DOBOT's education business has been a defining feature of the company since its founding. The Magician series of desktop robotic arms became widely adopted in K-12 schools, universities, and vocational training programs for teaching robotics, artificial intelligence, and smart manufacturing. The company's emphasis on accessible, well-documented products with graphical programming interfaces (DobotBlockly, DobotStudio) and drag-to-teach functionality has made its robots some of the most commonly used educational robotics platforms globally.
DOBOT's Automation Seeding Program builds partnerships with leading universities and schools worldwide. In 2025, DOBOT deepened partnerships with top Thai universities to drive industry-education integration and upgrade local robotics curricula.
DOBOT has co-organized the World Robot Contest (WRC) for nine consecutive years. The WRC is widely known as the "Olympics of Robotics" and has been repeatedly included in the Chinese Ministry of Education's Official Competition White List. Through the WRC, DOBOT has established a globally interconnected competition ecosystem spanning international platforms (WRC, BRICS Skills Competition) and national competitions (China Collegiate Intelligent Robot Contest, Vocational Skills Competition of the People's Republic of China, National Industry Vocational Skills Competition).
DOBOT provides practical curriculum materials, course packages, and training programs designed to align with robotics and machine learning education standards. The Magician E6's compatibility with multiple programming languages (Python, C, C#, Kotlin, Scratch-type block programming) makes it a bridge between introductory and advanced robotics education.
DOBOT's global headquarters are in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. The company has established offices in:
| Location | Opened | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Shenzhen, China | 2015 | Global headquarters, R&D, manufacturing |
| Dallas, USA | September 2023 | North American operations |
| Germany | N/A | European operations |
| Nagoya, Japan | N/A | Japanese and Asian operations |
| Bangkok, Thailand | January 2025 | Southeast Asian operations |
DOBOT's products are sold through an extensive distributor network spanning over 100 countries and regions. The company serves more than 80 Fortune Global 500 companies, including Foxconn, BYD, and Toyota. International sales accounted for 59.1% of total revenue in 2023, reflecting the company's strong export orientation.
As of 2025, DOBOT employs approximately 628 people. The company holds nearly 1,000 patents and has developed more than 90% of its robot components in-house.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| IPO date | December 23, 2024 |
| Exchange | Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2432.HK) |
| IPO price | HK$18.80 per share |
| IPO proceeds | HK$681 million (~US$87.6 million) |
| Revenue (FY 2023) | CN¥286.75 million (~US$43 million) |
| Net income (FY 2023) | CN¥-103.28 million (loss) |
| Revenue (H1 2024) | CN¥121 million (up 9.6% YoY) |
| Total assets (2023) | CN¥734.89 million |
| Total equity (2023) | CN¥341.06 million |
| Market cap (2025) | ~US$2.4 billion |
DOBOT's revenue growth has been accompanied by significant losses, reflecting the company's heavy investment in R&D, particularly its humanoid robot program. The company's stock price surged more than 170% during 2025, driven primarily by investor enthusiasm for the Atom humanoid platform and broader market excitement about humanoid robotics.
Key investors include China Internet Investment Fund, PreAngel Fund, and Zhuoyuan Capital.
In March 2025, DOBOT joined NVIDIA's Physics AI global partner ecosystem, coinciding with the unveiling of the Atom humanoid robot. This partnership signaled DOBOT's strategic shift toward embodied AI and positioned the Atom platform within the broader NVIDIA robotics technology ecosystem.
DOBOT partnered with ASKA Corporation, a Japanese system integrator specializing in automotive components and control systems, for the global launch and distribution of the Atom humanoid robot. The first production batch of Atom units was delivered at a joint launch event in Nagoya, Japan, on June 27, 2025, attended by over 200 Japanese partners and dozens of industry media representatives.
DOBOT's collaborative robots are deployed at more than 80 Fortune Global 500 companies. Notable clients include Foxconn (electronics manufacturing), BYD (electric vehicles), and Toyota (automotive). The company's cobots are used in industries spanning automotive, consumer electronics, semiconductor, healthcare, chemical processing, renewable energy, metal processing, logistics, and retail.
DOBOT competes in multiple segments of the robotics market. In the collaborative robot segment, its primary competitors include Universal Robots, FANUC, ABB, and KUKA. In the humanoid robot segment, DOBOT's Atom family competes with products from Unitree Robotics, UBTECH, Fourier Intelligence, Figure AI, and Agility Robotics.
DOBOT describes itself as "the only embodied-intelligence enterprise born directly from the manufacturing floor," distinguishing itself from competitors that entered robotics through research labs or consumer electronics. The company's decade of experience in precision collaborative robot manufacturing gives the Atom humanoid platform a distinctive emphasis on sub-millimeter manipulation accuracy, a specification that most competing humanoid robots do not match.
DOBOT holds approximately 13% of the global collaborative robot market as of 2024, making it the second-largest cobot company worldwide and the largest in China. The company has ranked as China's top cobot exporter for seven consecutive years.
DOBOT has articulated a "Super Factory" vision that integrates its full product portfolio into comprehensive flexible automation solutions. Under this vision, humanoid robots (Atom family), collaborative robot arms (CR, CRA, Nova series), mobile platforms, quadruped robots (Rover X1), and hexapod robots (Hexplorer) would work together in smart industrial facilities, commercial spaces, and public venues. The strategy leverages DOBOT's unique position as the only robotics company offering an embodied AI platform spanning robotic arms, humanoid robots, quadruped robots, and hexapod robots.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| June 2015 | Company founded in Shenzhen by Liu Peichao and Lang Xulin |
| October 2015 | Kickstarter campaign raises over $636,000 (17x the $36,000 goal) |
| April 2016 | $3 million third-round funding secured |
| August 2016 | Magician desktop robotic arm released |
| November 2016 | M1 SCARA collaborative robot launched |
| 2017 | Magician featured on CCTV New Year's Gala; CES 2018 Innovation Award |
| December 2020 | CR3, CR10, CR16 industrial cobots introduced |
| 2022 | CR10 launched at Hannover Messe |
| 2023 | CRA Series and SafeSkin unveiled at Automate 2023; Magician E6 launched; US office opened in Dallas |
| January 2025 | Thailand branch opened in Bangkok |
| December 2024 | IPO on Hong Kong Stock Exchange; raised HK$681 million (~US$87.6 million) |
| March 2025 | DOBOT Atom humanoid robot unveiled; NVIDIA Physics AI partnership announced |
| June 2025 | Global mass delivery of Atom begins in Nagoya, Japan (with ASKA Corporation) |
| July 2025 | Hexplorer six-legged hexapod robot unveiled |
| November 2025 | Rover X1 quadruped robot dog launched at ~$1,050 |
| February 2026 | Third batch of Atom humanoid mass production and delivery initiated |
| March 2026 | First European Atom deployment at RoboAI laboratory in Finland |