Reachy the Open-Source Robot is Designed for Research and Industry
Designed to operate in various environments where human-machine interaction is essential, this humanoid robot provides versatility, intelligence, and is fully modular.
Edited by EE Staff
Cool Stuff
Jan 6, 2026
Reachy 2, from Pollen Robotics, was designed to adapt to a wide variety of uses and allows users to choose from several configurations. Its natural expressions and gestures make it an intuitive and engaging robot, capable of integrating into social environments. The robot’s fluidity is based on the company’s key innovation, Orbita, the bio-inspired joint system.
The Orbita 3D is mounted to the robot as the wrists and neck, allowing harmonious and smooth movements with a wide range thanks to its three degrees of freedom. Similarly, the Orbita 2D, integrated into the elbows and shoulders, articulates via two degrees of freedom. The Orbita 2D is design to support loads of up to 3 kg.
Reachy 2 is equipped with a Python SDK and is based on ROS2, offering researchers and developers an open and flexible programming environment. According to Elsa Kervella, Sales and Marketing Director at Pollen Robotics, “We designed Reachy as a platform: researchers can integrate their own algorithms, and developers can enrich the software.” Reachy even includes a teleoperation feature—remote control—opening up additional prospects for difficult-to-access environments or those requiring great precision. With a virtual reality headset, an operator can control the robot's movements in real-time as well as teach it new movements. This learning capability allows Reachy to reproduce learned gestures autonomously.
The open-source approach is a central pillar of Pollen Robotics' identity. By making Reachy's plans and resources public, the company offers the global community an opportunity to customize and enrich the platform. This choice promotes collective innovation, aligned with the goal of democratizing access to useful robotics. "This not only allows our customers to adapt Reachy to their needs but also a global community to advance the technology, " said Kervella.
Reachy was designed to appeal to both the academic world and industrial world. In prestigious institutions like EPFL or Cornell University, it is used to explore human-robot interaction and machine learning, pushing the limits of artificial intelligence in real conditions. In industry, its modularity allows it to adapt to complex environments, whether for cobotic tasks or specific simulations.
When Pollen Robotics sought to push Reachy's limits, the company found a solid partner in maxon. The two teams closely collaborated to meet a challenge: adapting the components to demanding environments while respecting the robot's design and modularity constraints. Integrating the motors into the Orbita joints was a challenge as it was necessary to reconcile performance, compactness, and reliability while respecting Reachy's humanoid design. maxon met this challenge with a series of integrations including different motors, gearmotors, and sensors.
For example, the maxon EC-45 flat motor featured an optimized winding design and powerful magnets. Its efficient heat dissipation enabled continuous operation at high performance levels while its flat design facilitated integration in confined spaces. The MILE inductive encoder was the perfect complement to the flat motors, offering high resolution and precision. The inverted-signal encoder was extremely resistant to magnetic and electric fields, as well as to dirt. It was directly integrated into the motor. GPX32 gearboxes offered over 90% efficiencies to ensure smooth and efficient movements. Their robustness ensured reliable handling, even under demanding conditions.
Additional components included maxon’s ECX22torque motors and GPX22C gearboxes. Compact and powerful the motors provided exceptional torque densities for precise motion, while their iron-core windings and multipolar design guaranteed the optimum energy efficiency necessary for dynamic, real-time movements. The gearboxes delivered exceptional power transmission, and their modular design made it possible to create customized solutions for customers. According to Kevin Schwartz, Sales Engineer at maxon, “The compactness and performance of the motors were essential to respect Reachy's humanoid design while increasing its load capacity.” Overall, the integration of maxon solutions has pushed the limits of Reachy, making it a platform as powerful as it is modular.
Lead image courtesy of Pollen Robotics.
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