Mercury X1

History

Elephant Robotics, founded in 2016 in Shenzhen, China, specializes in robot research and development, AI software tools for robotics, and intelligent manufacturing platforms. The company has a diverse range of robots aimed at education, research, and commercial applications. Its products include educational and professional collaborative robots (cobots) and companion robotic pets.

In 2023, Elephant introduced the Mercury Series, which features the Mercury X1 wheeled humanoid robot, designed specifically for embodied AI research and deployment in commercial settings. The Mercury X1 integrates multiple sensing and computing technologies to enable capable and versatile operations. With a total of 19 degrees of freedom, it features lightweight harmonic drives and dual robotic arms that can maintain the precision required for complex motion control, with 0.05 mm repeatability. Its compact, maneuverable mobile platform is capable of handling slopes and small obstacles. The robot is powered by NVIDIA's Jetson Xavier for onboard AI processing, and includes a suite of sensors that includes LIDAR, ultrasonic modules, and camera systems.

Elephant also emphasizes Mercury's software interoperability and accessibility. It supports a wide array of programming environments like Python and C++, and integrates with leading robotics software platforms like ROS, Gazebo, and Mujoco. The robots also feature a user-friendly interface for task programming, support for both 2D and 3D vision, and VR teleoperation and speech recognition.

Building on prior work with models like myCobot and myBuddy, the Mercury Series reflects Elephant's focus on scalable robot platforms through embodied AI, modular design, and ease of deployment. With the Mercury X1, the company offers a system designed to move beyond prototype demonstrations and support practical tasks in real-world environments — complete with a touchscreen head that smiles back at you.