EVE

History

EVE, a wheeled, self-balancing humanoid robot, was created by 1X Technologies, a robotics startup headquartered in Moss, outside Olso, in Norway, that aims to "pursue producing androids at commercial scale."

In early 2023, 1X announced it had closed a funding round of US $23.5 million led by OpenAI. The company plans to use the funds to advance manufacturing of EVE in Norway and North America, and "increase the efforts of building its upcoming bipedal android model NEO."

1X, formerly known as Halodi Robotics, was founded in 2014 by Bernt Øivind Børnich, which currently serves as CEO, and Nguyen Ho Quoc Phuong, the chief science officer.

1X is focusing on developing specialized, custom robotics hardware. For EVE and NEO, it designed and built a proprietary motor called Revo1. The company claims Revo1 is the "world's highest torque to weight direct drive servo […] tailored explicitly for low gear-ratio robotics."

The motor is designed to work together with a low inertial cable driven transmission, producing no backlash, extremely low friction, and high torque. This allows EVE to self-balance on wheels and perform dexterous manipulation with dual arms in full torque control.

By partnering with OpenAI, 1X wants to combine robotics and artificial intelligence to create embodied AI. Robots that can be trained in real-world scenarios will lead to safer, more intuitive and intelligent interactions between robots and people, the company says.

The March 2023 funding round was led by the OpenAI Startup Fund, with participation from Tiger Global and a consortium of Norway-based investors, including Sandwater, Alliance Ventures, and Skagerak Capital.